Jody and Charlie Together Forever......????
by KilmerFrog45
Summary: Cooper makes the biggest mistake of his life... causing Jody to realize that she'd already made the biggest mistake of her life. Cooper still loves Jody, but so does Charlie. And poor Jody doesn't know what to do. PART 2 UP NOW... CHAPTER 20 UP SOON!! PLE
1. Part 1: Chapter 1

Decisions from Confusion ****

Charlie and Jody Together Forever……????

Tuesday, April 10th, 2001

Chapter 1

Charlie Sims walked from his dressing room to back stage nervously. He knew it was stupid to be nervous, but he couldn't help it. He had been dancing with ABC for 2 years and he had recently become a principle dancer for the company. 

Jody Sawyer sat in the audience. She was a principle dancer in the Cooper Neilson Dance Company. She was sitting next to some old guy and a very thin woman who had obviously been a ballet dancer at some point.

The curtain came up and Charlie began to dance. A thin girl came on-stage and Charlie began to dance with her. Jody sat in her seat and watched in amazement. She hadn't seen Charlie in 2 years, let alone seen him dance. He had improved a lot, which even she found hard to believe, because she had thought that Charlie was wonderful. Now, his dancing was indescribably fantastic.

Charlie danced his heart out on-stage. His partner, Jamalee Willkenson, danced beautifully as well, but Charlie couldn't help but compare her to his secret love.

After the performance there was a big party to congratulate the new choreographer and the new principle dancer. Jody was sitting at a large table with about 12 other people that she didn't know.

She looked around, but didn't see any familiar faces for almost a half-hour. Then she saw Jonathan Reeves and his ballet dancer wife, Kathleen. She didn't say anything to them, because they probably wouldn't have remembered her anyway. She searched some more, but didn't see anyone else she knew.

She was just about to get up and leave when she felt someone's eyes on her. She almost didn't turn, afraid see would see some jerk just after her body. She had known to many people like that (namely Cooper Neilson), and was very cautious of meeting new guys.

She turned slowly and saw _him_. He walked slowly up to her and sat down in the empty chair next to her. She looked into his eyes and she could feel her heart skip a beat. She tried to breathe, but her smile was so big she couldn't.

"Hey." he said sweetly, but Jody could tell he was really nervous, "I'm so glad you could make it!"

Jody's smile was getting so big she felt like her face was expanding. "Well, you know......" Jody said, not sure what to say.

He smiled and tried to get his blushing under control. They locked eyes for a minute and Jody could see that even though he seemed happy enough to see her, he was hurting secretly inside.

He looked into her eyes and couldn't figure out what message she was sending him. He had never been very good at doing that through people's eyes, while she could do it with everyone through their eyes.

They sat there for a few minutes longer until the party ended. Jody got up and he followed her to get their coats.

"So," he asked, "where are you staying?"

Jody paused a minute before answering. "No where yet. I just flew in from Chicago today, and all my stuff is in a rental car. I was going to go rent a hotel room tonight."

He sighed and thought about that for a minute before saying, "Well," he started, "I do have an extra room in my apartment, if you want a place to stay without charge. I don't have a roommate. You don't have to. I was just offering."

Jody looked in his eyes and smiled. "I'd love to! Thanks so much." Jody said, hugging him, The hug felt kind of weird, especially when he didn't really hug back. She knew it was because off his hurting that he wouldn't show. She sighed and grabbed her coat of the hangar.

Jody Sawyer and Charlie Sims left the party and drove to his apartment.


	2. Part 1: Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Charlie carried Jody's 2 suitcases as he climbed the stairs to the 2nd floor of the apartment building. Jody followed him, clutching her backpack nervously. When they reached the door to Charlie's apartment, he took out his key and unlocked the door. Before he opened it, he turned to Jody.

"Uh, can you stay out here for just a second? I just have to check your room really quick." he said.

Jody nodded and Charlie opened the door, "I'll call you in a minute, when it's ready." Charlie said and he stepped into his apartment, closing the door behind him.

After about 6 minutes Jody began to worry. "Charlie?" she called out, "May I come in now?"

There was silence for a few seconds before Jody heard a slap and stomping footsteps heading towards the door. A thin girl with brown hair who was about Jody's age and height stormed out the door, not even glancing at Jody.

Jody watched the girl leave, surprised. She stepped into Charlie's apartment and saw him standing in front of a beige couch, his face bright red, mostly his burning cheek.

"Are you okay?" Jody asked, concerned, "Who was that?"

Charlie didn't answer, but instead pointed to a closed door. "That's your room." He said, and then locked himself into his own room for the rest of the night.

Jody looked around the room, completely confused. She shrugged and picked up her bags. She walked into her room and placed her stuff gently on the floor. She glanced around. There was a dresser with a mirror, a double bed, a closet, and a small book self/desk.

Jody changed into her sleeping boxer shorts and a large tee shirt and sat down on the bed. She looked at the dresser and saw a small photo album.

She picked it up and looked at it.

The first picture was of Charlie, Jody, Erik, Eva, Maureen, Jim, and the limo driver on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. They were all smiling and holding donuts.

Jody smiled, remembering how fun Erik's birthday had been. She got sad after a moment how she had to tell Charlie that she was "seeing" someone when he asked her out, and seeing the hurt, sad look in his deep eyes.

She flipped through the rest of the book until she saw a picture that caught her eye. 

It was of Charlie sitting in a chair at his kitchen table. The girl Jody had seen earlier, that she now recognized as Jamalee, was sitting on his lap, smiling. Her hand was on the table and Jody could see a beautiful gold ring on her finger.

Jody dropped the book onto the floor and looked down at the picture in horror and amazement. She carefully picked up the book, barely touching it, as if it were evil. She carefully placed it back on the dresser and backed away from it.

Jody crawled under the covers of the bed, trying not to cry, and fall asleep. She was woken up the next morning by Charlie knocking lightly on the door. Jody turned over and groaned. "Com in." she mumbled into her pillow.

Charlie slowly opened the door and poked his head in. "Sorry to wake you so early, I just wanted to sat good-bye. I have to go the company now, but I'll be back before dinner, ok?"

Jody nodded, "Ok, bye." she said, trying to wake up.

Charlie left and Jody rolled over again. She looked at the digital clock sitting on the small desk/table by the bed. It was 6:17 am. Jody closed her eyes and smiled. She rolled out of bed and changed into a pair of really short shorts and a small blue tank top. She looked at the photo album on the dresser, and he smiled faded.

Jody entered the small kitchen and looked around. She saw a box of cereal and pored herself a bowl. She added milk, grabbed a spoon, and sat down at the table.

She thought about what to do for the day while she ate her breakfast. When she was done she placed her empty bowl in the sink and sat down on the sofa. Suddenly she got an idea and stood up. She grabbed her coat and left, making sure the door was locked.

Jody got into her rental car and drove off. When she reached ABC, she looked up at the building and smiled. "Well, here goes nothing." she said, and shrugged, entering the company.

Jody managed to find the main office from memory. "Excuse me." She said sweetly to the secretary, "Is Jonath- I mean Mr. Reeves in a class right now?"

The secretary looked up at her and smiled. "No, he's in his office, his first class doesn't start until 8:00."

"Thank you." Jody said, leaving the office. She looked around and went off in the direction she thought Jonathan's office was in.

She located the room, and hoped it was still his office. Jody knocked on the door.

"Come in." Jonathan's voice said from inside.

Jody smiled and entered the room.

"Hi Jonath- Mr. Reeves." Jody began, "You probably don't remember me, but-"

"Jody!" Jonathan exclaimed, "It's so good to see you again. Call me Jonathan. Please. So, how have you been?"

Jody smiled and sat down on one of the chairs. "Good."

"Are you still in Cooper Neilson's Company?"

"Yep." Jody replied.

"Do you like it there?"

"Yes, it's really nice. But it's so far away, you know? It's all the way in Chicago, so I don't get to see my old friends a lot."

Jonathan nodded. "So, what brings you here?"

"I, uh, came to see the new ballet for ABC, Charlie invited me to come see it." Jody explained.

"Oh!" Jonathan said, raising his eyebrows, "Is that all? How long are you staying here?"

"Well, the ballet, and that gives me a chance to see old friends and all as well. Oh, I'm probably staying about 2 weeks, maybe."

"Oh, would you like to came watch rehearsal some times while you are here? You could be my 'special guest', or something." Jonathan offered.

Jody smiled. "Sure, I'd love to."

"Would you like to watch today?"

"Yes, sure." She said.

"Ok, great. It doesn't start until 8."

"I'll meet you then." Jody said quickly.

"Oh, ok. Room 6."

"Ok, see you then." Jody said, and left his office.

She went into the dorm buildings for ABA and wondered around. She found her old room and looked at the door for a few minutes. She had lived there with Eva and Maureen for a year while attending ABA. She walked past another familiar door and bit her lip nervously. It was Charlie's old room, where he had lived with Sergei and Erik for a year.

When it was 8, Jody found herself sitting next to Jonathan on a chair up against the mirrored wall. She was watching Julliette Simone teach a petit redheaded girl a dance for the ABA workshop.

After an hour Charlie and Jamalee walked through the door, totally ignoring each other. Jody pretended not to see them and watched Juliette intently.

Jamalee announced her presence to Juliette that she was there and was instructed to teach a small amount of girls the choral dance.

Charlie looked at Jody for a moment, confused, before sitting in the empty chair next to her. "Hey." He said softly.

"Hey." Jody said, not looking away from the redhead trying to dance the steps correctly.

After rehearsal ended, Charlie cautiously invited Jody to lunch, and she agreed. They got into their cars and Jody followed Charlie to the restaurant.

"So, what were you doing there in rehearsal?" Charlie asked during lunch. He was sitting across from Jody at a two-person booth.

"I was, uh, just visiting Jonathan." Jody explained.

Charlie nodded and took a bite of his lunch.

"Charlie, was that girl from last night your dancing partner?" Jody asked.

"Uh, yeah." Charlie said after a moment.

"And that was her this morning with Juliette, right?"

"Uh huh." He said blankly.

"What was she doing at your apartment last night?"

Charlie just shook his head and continued eating.

"Charlie! Come on! Please!" Jody pleaded.

"She, uh, was just returning something she had borrowed earlier."

"Charlie?" Jody asked softly, "Are you two engaged?"

Charlie's eyes widened as he slowly lifted his head to look at Jody.


	3. Part 1: Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jody couldn't fall asleep. She tossed and turned, but she just couldn't sleep. She and Charlie had had a fight. Charlie was hardly speaking to her before the fight, now he was barley even looking at her. Jody got out of bed and put on her ballet shoes.

She looked at the clock, and it was 2:26 am. She warmed up and then began to dance. At first she thought she was just making up the steps, they just came so easily. After a while, Jody realized where the steps were coming from. _Cooper Neilson's ABA workshop ballet. _She sighed.

__

Jody sat back down on the bed to think. Suddenly she got up, grabbed her cell phone, and went out into the main room. She saw Charlie siting on the couch, thinking. She ignored him and went out into the hallway. She closed the door and sat down against the wall.

She took out her cell phone and dialed a number. She quickly just hung up and then called a different number.

"Hello?" Eva answered, yawning.

"Eva? It's Jody."

"Hey girl! I heard you were in New York, but why are you calling so late?"

"I'm at Charlie's. We had a fight and I can't sleep."

"Whoa, wait! You're staying at Charlie's? Charlie Sims's? Are you really?" Eva asked.

"Yes. And it sucks. He would hardly even talk to me before the fight. Now he won't even look at me. Oh, Eva, I just feel awful."

"Well, what happened?"

"He loves me."

"Huh?" Eva asked confused.

"He loves me. I love him too."

"So then what's the deal?"

"He's engaged."

There was a pause before Eva started screaming into the phone. "What?? How could he?? Is he insane?? Who is she??"

"Jamalee Willkenson." Jody said.

"Oh." Eva said, suddenly calm.

"What?"

"They were dancing partners in that new ballet."

"I know."

"So, what happened?" Eva asked again.

"I made them have a fight. Not on purpose. I just don't know. Charlie told me to wait outside his apartment while he checked my room. So I waited. For 6 minutes. So I yelled if I could come in and Jamalee thought I was like his secret girlfriend or something. So now she's really pissed at him."

"Oh, wow." Eva said, "Then what?"

"We went out for lunch today, and then, I don't know. It just all exploded."

"But he loves you?"

"Oh yeah. Defiantly. He won't say it, but I know he does."

"How do you know?" Eva asked.

"Well, you know Charlie, his eyes and body language tell every thing about him."

"Oh yeah. Well, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know." Jody said wearily, "I have no idea."

"You wanna have lunch tomorrow with me? Maybe we can hang out afterwards too."

Jody smiled. "Ok."

After working out the details, they both hung up. Then Jody gathered all her courage and went back inside.

"I'm sorry." Charlie said from the couch.

"Don't be." Jody said.

"I can't help it."

Jody sighed and went to sit down next to him. "Charlie, I think it's great you're engaged. You're happy. You're in love. And I think that's great."

Charlie turned to Jody and shook his head slowly. "No." he said.

"Huh?" Jody asked.

"Look, Charlie, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ever hurt you. And I did, so many times. On Erik's birthday, yesterday, today, and on our…. Wedding day. I'm just sorry."

Charlie turned away and didn't answer.

Jody closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I know."

"You know what?"

"About you, about me, about everything."

Charlie turned around and looked at her. "What?"

"Oh come on Charlie, you know exactly what."

Charlie looked into her eyes and then stood up. "I need some air." he said and then stormed out the apartment.

Jody sank onto the couch and fell asleep. When she woke up the next morning, Charlie wasn't there, and neither was the photo album that Jody hated so much. She ate some breakfast and then changed into a blue mini skirt and orange tank top.

She drove around for awhile, looking at all the buildings. When it was time for lunch, she went to the restaurant to meet Eva.

Eva was standing inside, waiting, They hugged and greeted each other, and then they got their seats. After they got their food, they talked for a while about different things until Eva brought up Charlie.

"So, what's happening with you and Charlie? She asked.

"I have no idea." Jody said as Eva looked at her sympathetically. "I tried to tell him last night that I was sorry for hurting him, and that I knew he loved me. It didn't work out to well though. I think that now he's even more mad at me."

"Damn that sucks." Eva said.

Jody nodded. "So, any guys pissed at you?"

Eva smiled. "Nope. I don't even have a boyfriend now, just Eric."

Jody smiled, "So, how is he?"

"Oh, you know. Sweet, funny, the usual.

"So," Jody said, "how are Maureen and Jim?"

"Good. Maureen's a lot better, thank God. And they got married about 2 months ago."

"Good for them." Jody said.

Eva nodded and they talked a while longer. After lunch they went shopping and Jody had the best time she had in a long time. After the shopping spree was over, Eva went to ABC for rehearsal and Jody went back to the apartment. When she got there, she sat down on the couch and watched an hour of tv before Charlie came home.

"Jody, I'm sorry about last night." Charlie said, "I just…. splotchy."

Jody stared at him for a minute before smiling. Then she got up and hugged him. He actually hugged her back this time. Then there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Charlie yelled, still holding Jody.

Jamalee walked in and looked at them. She screamed and then threw something at Charlie head before stomping off. Charlie let go of Jody and bent down to pick up the object. He stood back up and looked at it.

It was a gold ring.

Charlie threw it at his door. "Shit!!" he yelled, and went into his room.

Jody frowned and picked up the ring. She cautiously entered Charlie's room and placed it on his dresser. "Here." she said softly.

Charlie looked up at her. Jody sat down next to him and hugged him. 

"Look, Charlie, you have to tell me. You have to tell me anything. Even if you don't think it's important, tell me. If you don't, you could lose Jamalee and me. Both of us, forever."

Charlie sighed and nodded. "Where do I begin? UH, ok, here. Let's start with this. You ripped out my heart, stomped on it, chewed it up, threw it back up, and then flushed it down the toilet."

Jody was speechless.

"When you called off the wedding," Charlie continued, "it hurt so bad. I thought I was going to die it hurt so much. But then I met Jamalee. She helped change everything some, and I care for her a lot. The end."

"You care for her a lot? That's all? I know there is more to this story."

Charlie swallowed. "What are you, a mind reader?"

"No."

"Oh, well then. Uh, what more is there to say? I care for her a lot and we are engaged."

Jody shook her head. "That's not all."

Charlie looked around the room hopelessly. "But what if I don't want to tell you the rest?"

Jody smiled. "To bad. You still have to. I already know, you just have to admit it."

Charlie looked at her and began. "I proposed to Jamalee, and she never looked happier. She was so in love with me, I thought she would explode. But….. I don't. I don't love her. I never can. I care for her, but I just can't love her. I tried, believe me, I really did. I just can't."

Jody sighed. "Com on Charlie! If you don't say the rest, I will!"

"I love you." Charlie said, and then turned away.

"Don't be ashamed Charlie, please. Really!"

"I love you." He said again.

"I know." Jody said quietly, "I love you too."

Charlie turned back to face her. "What?"

"I love you." Jody said, smiling.

Charlie leaned in and kissed her.

He pulled away after a second and said, "What about Jamalee? Am I really going to have to be engaged 3 times before I get married?"

Jody smiled and then frowned. "I'll be right back." she said, and left.

She returned after a minute with Charlie's cordless phone. She handed it to him. "Call her." She said, and left his room.

She went into her room and dug around in her backpack for a few minutes. When she knew that Charlie wasn't talking anymore she went back into his room.

He was sitting on his bed smiling. "She took it really well."

"Really?"

"No." Charlie said, laughing.

Neither said anything for a moment. Eventually Charlie glanced at Jody's hand. "What's in your hand?" he asked.

Jody handed him the small box, smiling. Charlie opened it and saw a silver ring with a small emerald on it. "You kept the engagement ring?"

"Of course." Jody said.

Just then Jody's cell phone rang. She reluctantly excused herself from Charlie and went to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Jody, please don't-"

"Cooper?" Jody exclaimed.

"Yes, but please don't hang up. Please, won't you give one more chance?"

"No, Cooper, you blew it. Please stop calling me."

"Please, I love you."

"Fine. I don't care, Cooper. I don't love you. I love someone else. You can't keep on calling me like this!"

"Please?"

"No!"

"Come on. Please. I'll do anything."

"No Cooper. Good-bye.'

Jody hung up and heard the front door slam. "Great! Just great!" Jody yelled to herself.


	4. Part 1: Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Charlie got into his car and drove away. He didn't know where he was going, he was just going. A few minutes later he stopped in front of a large apartment building. He went to room 41 and knocked.

Jamalee opened the door and then quickly slammed it back in his face. Charlie pounded on the door for several minutes before she finally opened it back up to see Charlie pleading and practically sobbing.

They had a long talk before Charlie left an hour later. When he left, Jamalee waved goodbye, her hand showing off a gold ring. He went back home, taking the long way to think it all over.

He thought he had finally gotten Jody back, the love of his life was finally in his arms to hold forever. Jody loved Charlie, and he knew that, but she always went back to Cooper. He could always fool her with his fake charm. He always broke her heart, be she was always there to go back. When would she ever learn?

Charlie pulled the picture of him and Jamalee from the photo album from his pocket and looked at it as he drove. When he pulled up in front of his apartment building he looked up at it and sighed. He took the picture and ripped it up. He threw it out his car window and sat in his car for 20 minutes thinking.

He turned his car back on and drove off again, angry at the whole world. He returned 40 minutes later and had thrown the gold ring out the gold ring out the window as he drove home.

Charlie sighed angrily and went back up to his apartment. There was a letter taped on the front of his door when he got there.

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Dear Charlie,

Why did you run off so fast? Was it because of Cooper? Don't worry. I live you, not him, only you. It's ok. He won't get in the way anymore.

Lots of love,

Jody =:^)

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Charlie sighed and shook his head. He had heard it all before. He walked inside and saw Jody standing there, waiting. She ran up and hugged him, while he just stood there, doing nothing.

Jody pulled back and looked at Charlie. She looked hurt and confused but Charlie just stared into space angrily.

"Charlie?" she asked.

"What happened to Cooper?"

"What?"

"Never mind." Charlie said blankly.

"Charlie, you don't have to worry about him. I mean, sure he called, he always does. But I told him to stop. And if he doesn't, I'll keep on telling him. I love you."

Charlie looked into Jody's pleading eyes. He just couldn't do it. Last time she had told him all this she had left him for Cooper, on their wedding day. She had left him for Cooper, pregnant with Cooper's baby. Sure, the pregnancy test had been wrong but still.

Jody could see the hurt and all the memories going through his eyes. "Charlie, I'm sorry! I know, it was so wrong! I thought I was going to die after the first 2 days without you! I was…. it was a mistake! I know, I know! Please?"

Charlie just looked at her, with tears forming in his eyes. He blinked and a tear rolled down his face. Jody lifted her and brushed it away. She leaned in to kiss him but he pulled away.

"Sorry." Charlie said, and then went into his room, locking the door.

Jody exploded and began sobbing into the small couch pillow. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed the number.

"Hello?" the voice answered.

"Hey it's Jody."

"Jody! Why are you crying?"

"Can I come over?" she asked.

"Sure, anything."

"Ok, I'll be over in about 20 minutes." She hung up and went to the car. When she reached the apartment she knocked on the door, still crying.

Erik opened the door and hugged her tightly.

"So, what happened?" Erik asked after they got settled inside.

"Charlie. He loves me. Cooper loves me too."

"Who do you love?"

"Charlie."

"Then what's the problem?"

"Well, you remember. I called of the wedding and left him."

"Well, at least it's not like you left him for Cooper, right?"

Jody bit her lower lip and looked down.

"Jody!" Erik screeched.

"I know, I know. But that's not the worst part." Jody said, beginning to cry again.

"Why? What else happened."

"I left Charlie for Cooper. I had to. I was……... pregnant."

Erik eyes got wider. "What? With Cooper?"

"Yes." Jody said, whipping her eyes.

"While you were engaged to Charlie?"

"Yes."

Erik starred at her speechless.

"The test was wrong, I wasn't going to have Cooper's baby." Jody explained, "But Charlie still got mad because I slept with him. I mean, I can't even really blame him."

Erik hugged her tightly for a while.

"What should I do?"

"I don't know. I'm not that good at advice, only dancing." Erik smiled.

I need…. I need…. A guy." Jody said, lost in thought.

"Huh?"

"I need a guy to be my boyfriend to make Charlie jealous."

"Number one: that guy won't be me. Number two: That plan won't work. Sure, Charlie will get jealous, remember how jealous he got with Cooper? But he's to Charlie-like to make you break up with anyone that you love. You know that better than anyone."

"I know." Jody said.

About two hours later Jody and Erik said their good-byes. Jody got into her rental car and waved to Erik as she drove off. She got drive-through dinner on the way because she hadn't had any. She parked the car in front of the apartment building and went up to the 2nd floor. When he reached Charlie's door there was a new note taped to the door.

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Dear Jody,

Welcome home. Where did you go? I missed you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so incredibly sorry.

I know you love me. But all I can think is, "How much?? Not that much, she slept with Cooper before we got married." Though, I know you love me a lot.

Jody, I love you. I love more than anything. Even after our non-wedding. I never stopped loving you even for a second.

When you didn't talk to me in 2 years, I thought you were happily married to Cooper with a beautiful baby that had all your wonderful features. Once, I even had a weird dream that you named the baby Charlie (it was a boy, so it didn't have _all_ your wonderful features). Weird, huh?

I miss you like hell. Please come home soon. I'm waiting in side. Hurry up now, we have a lot to talk about.

Love,

Charlie

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Jody read the note twice before pushing the heavy wooden door open. She stepped inside and looked around. "Charlie?" she called when he wasn't there.

Charlie sprang from Jody's room and hugged her. He picked her up and spun her around until they became to dizzy.

"So," Jody said, "You forgive me?"

Charlie nodded slowly. "I know it's weird, considering the circumstances and all, but I love you to much not to. Just don't do it again, ok? Because I can't take you back again. It will hurt so much I probably really will die this time. Ok? But I still love you."

Jody smiled and they kissed passionately for a while.

Eventually they had to go to bed, so Jody crawled in bed next to Charlie and fell asleep in his arms. Charlie hugged her and fell asleep with a smile on his face.

When they woke up, Charlie went off to ABC for rehearsal and Jody came to watch with Jonathan.

When they got there Jody and Charlie went right to the rehearsal room. Jody greeted Jonathan and sat down in one of the chairs against the mirror wall. Charlie greeted him also, and then sat down next to Jody. He put his arm around her and watched the rehearsal, trying to decide who might be good in the new company ballet he would help choreograph the next fall.

Jamalee walked in after about an hour and took the only empty seat left, next to Charlie. Charlie made sure she noticed him leaning over and kissing Jody on the cheek. Jamalee turned away, pretending she wasn't at all hurt.

When the class was over, Charlie turned to Jamalee. "Uh, Jamalee, I want you to meet my girlfriend, Jody Sawyer."

Jamalee frowned. "_The_ Jody Sawyer? The one who left you on your wedding day? The one who got pregnant with someone else's baby? The one who's a bitch? The one who's a total slut?"

Charlie stood up and stuck his face right into hers. "You shut up right now! She is not a bitch or a slut. I love her." He whispered angrily.

Jamalee glared angrily at Jody, who was close to tears, before turn to Charlie. "You ass-hole!" she yelled in his face, slapping him. Then she walked out of the large room.

Charlie stood there for a moment, his face burning, before sitting down to hug Jody. He glanced up at Jonathan and Juliette. They were looking at them with raised eyebrows. Charlie shot them a look that said, "Later!" and they quickly followed Jamalee out of the room.

Charlie hugged Jody for a while until she was okay. "I'm sorry." He said, "She was way out of line. When I told her what happened between us, I guess I was a little angry. But, Jody, I swear, I never ever called you a bitch or a slut. I'm sorry."

Jody smiled and nodded. "That's ok, it's not your fault anyway, it's mine. I make mistakes. Really bad ones, really often. But you always seem to forgive me, no matter how bad I screwed up. How come?"

Charlie looked directly into Jody's eyes and stated, "I love you."

Jody smiled and they kissed. They went out to lunch and then went home. There were 6 phone messages on the machine.

Charlie pushed play and listened as he and Jody kissed on the couch.

"Hello! You have reached Charlie Sims. If you are calling about ABC or ballet, please press 2 and leave a message. Thank you! Good-bye!"

"Charlie? It's Jamalee. I just left ABC and I'm in my car. Call me, ok? I miss you."

"Hey! It's me again. Uh, I guess you're out at lunch. I hope you're not with that slut. Call me."

"Charlie? It's Jonathan. Have you thought about the ballet steps any? Or who might be good in it? Well, we'll talk later. Be at ABC tomorrow at 7:30, ok? Bye."

"It's me again! Charlie? Pick up! Please! Pick up, pick up, pick up! Ok, I guess you're there. Well, call me."

"Call me, ok Charlie? I miss you. I love you. Are you there? Please be there! Oh well, call me, you know my number."

"CHARLIE!!! WE NEED TO TALK _NOW_!!!!! I know you love her and all, but I have BIG NEWS!!! You HAVE to call me! I'm really scared. Please? Charlie? Bye."

Charlie pulled back from Jody. "Maybe I should call her, she sounded really serious."

Jody bit her lip and nodded. Charlie always seemed to do the right, sweet thing.

Charlie got up and fixed his ruffled hair before picking up the phone. He dialed and then locked himself into his room.

Jody fixed her hair and straightened her shirt while she waited.

Charlie returned about 10 minutes later, in a daze. He went to go place the phone on the table, but missed and it landed on the floor. He sat down next to the phone and leaned against the wall.

"What?" Jody asked, concerned.

"She, she's pregnant." Charlie said after a moment.

Jody fell back onto the couch, nearly fainting. Neither of them said anything for a while. "Are you sure she wasn't just lying?" Jody eventually asked.

"I'm sure." Charlie said, banging his head on the wall several times.

After 10 minutes of silence, Charlie got up and stumbled to the bathroom. Jody could hear him throwing up his lunch.

Jody sighed painfully. She just could not believe it. Jamalee was pregnant with Charlie baby! Now she knew how Charlie must have felt when she left him for Cooper. Jody could hear herself groan as she thought about what Charlie would do. Would he leave Jody for Jamalee like Jody had Cooper 2 years ago? Would he stay with Jody? She just didn't know.

Charlie didn't know either. It had been such a shock, and then Charlie's mind was flooded with questions. Did he leave Jody for Jamalee? Did he stay with Jody? Was the test going to be wrong like Jody's? Was it going to be right? What did he do? He got so scared his stomach started doing flips and jumps.

When he finally decided what he was going to do, he emerged from the bathroom. Jody was sitting on the couch, lost in thought. When she realized Charlie was looking at her, she turned around, startled. She looked into his eyes, and all she could she was how much he loved her. "What are you going to do?" she asked cautiously.

Charlie gulped and began. "Well…………………."


	5. Part 1: Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

9 months and 4 days later Charlie stood next to a hospital bed, his sweaty hand being squeezed to death. He looked down at the brown haired girl laying in the bed, screaming, sweating, and pushing. She was only 23, and Charlie was still only 22. Charlie felt bad about what he had made her go through at such a young age, especially when he didn't even love her. It seemed so wrong to be with anyone else, but he couldn't be with her, even if he had wanted to.

A few minutes later Jamalee sat up in the bed, holding her son, Erik. Charlie looked on in amazement. He had a son! He was a father! He had always wanted this! He was still only 22! He had never wanted it this soon! Why did he ever even go into the bedroom? Charlie picked up Erik, named for one of his best friends, and held him gently.

There was no way that Charlie was going to be a bad father. He would not allow himself. Already the baby had no real father living with him, or even one married to his mom. He wasn't going to let that get in the way of being the best dad he could ever be. Charlie looked down at his son. He already loved him. How could he not? He had loved him before he was born.

Jody waited outside in the hospital waiting room/lobby. In just a few minutes she'd be seeing Erik. Charlie's baby Erik! Erik Sims. Erik Willkenson. Erik Sawyer. Erik. Charlie's son!

Jody held her boyfriend's son in her hands. It felt almost magical. This was Charlie's bay. It looked like him to. All of the same facial features, same beautiful eyes. She looked over and smiled at the very proud father.

*****

Charlie held his small son as he ran up the stairs to ABC. He greeted Jonathan and Juliette, who both cooed over Erik. He saw Jamalee and went over to her. He hugged her and kissed Erik on the head before handed the sleeping baby to her. She took him and the small baby bag. She said bye to Charlie and then headed home.

Charlie watched his son leave in his mother's arms and waved. Then he went into an empty rehearsal room and opened his backpack. He pulled out his ballet and clothes, regular clothes, a book, a baby blanket he had forgotten to give to Jamalee, and finally his cell phone.

He pressed speed dial number one and the phone rang 6 times before it clicked to an answering machine.

"Hi! You've reached Jody Sawyer! If you're calling about the ballet add, press 2 and leave a message, and that goes for all ballet calls as well! If not, just press 1 or just leave a message and I'll call you right back! Thank you! Bye!"

"Hey Jody, it's me. How things going in Chicago? Back at work yet? If so, how's Cooper's new ballet coming? I'm at ABC now, I just got here with Erik. Jamalee took him home and now I'm in an empty rehearsal room. I'm gonna have to go soon, class is going to start any minute now. Jonathan is working really hard on this new ballet, he says he's got a ton of ideas to try out. But I've got a few too, maybe next time you visit you can help work out steps with us? That would be fun, don't-"

"Hi! You've reached Jody Sawyer! If you're calling about the ballet add, press 2 and leave a message, and that goes for all ballet calls as well! If not, just press 1 or just leave a message and I'll call you right back! Thank you! Bye!"

"Hey, it's me again. Sorry, I guess my last message was to long. Any way, wouldn't it be fun? I bet Jonathan would like it, Kathleen doesn't really like to make ballets, just dance them. Haha. Oh well. I miss you. It's so lonely here with out you. Everyone says hi. I love you. Call me, ok? Love ya, bye!"

Charlie hung up and sighed. He leaned his head against the wall for a minute and closed his eyes, trying to picture her face. He blinked and shook his head and then got up. He grabbed his bag and sat it down on one of the chairs. He quickly got a small cup of coffee and waited for the dancers to arrive.

He couldn't believe Jonathan was letting him help choreograph a whole ballet. A real one, that the company would perform for the public. Usually he wouldn't do this. If he was going to let someone choreograph, it would be fore the student workshop, like Cooper.

_Cooper._ Charlie couldn't help but frown. Cooper had ruined his life one to many times, all because of Jody. He wasn't blaming Jody or anything, he just hated the fact that Jody and Cooper could even be in the same sentence. Now, they were working side by side, miles away. Cooper would be hitting on Jody, and Jody would be backing away. But Cooper would keep on hitting until she gave in. And Charlie was sure she would without him there to support her.

He knew he should have more faith in her, especially because he loved her. But he just couldn't help it. Besides, she had always given before, even when it mattered most not to give in, like just weeks before their wedding. Charlie sighed and frantically found his cell phone again.

"Hi! You've reached Jody Sawyer! If you're calling about the ballet add, press 2 and leave a message, and that goes for all ballet calls as well! If not, just press 1 or just leave a message and I'll call you right back! Thank you! Bye!"

"Hey! It's me! I, uh, just wanted to say hi………again. Well, don't do anything I wouldn't do, hint hint- Cooper, and bye. Sorry about that, I'm just scared I'll lose you again. Call me when you get home! I love you. Bye."

*****

Jody walked into her apartment and played Charlie's messages as she changed into a nice, short, red dress and put on make-up and stuff. She was just about to call Charlie when there was a knock on her door. She opened it and saw Cooper, decked out in a dark blue tux and loosely combed hair.

"Hey Sweets, am I late?"

"Nope." Jody said. She locked the door and they went down to Cooper's motorcycle and drove off, Jody holding Cooper's waist tightly.


	6. Part 1: Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Cooper's motorcycle stopped front of a large building. Jody got off and looked at Cooper. She could not believe she was doing this. Cooper had asked her, and she said yes, just like that. Of course, she had been half-asleep at the time, but still.

Jody had been sitting in a chair at Cooper Neilson's Ballet Company, exhausted from rehearsal. She had to tap her sore feet on the floor to keep from falling asleep. Cooper had come over to her and explained that there was going to be a big party to celebrate his company being open for 2 years. He asked Jody to be his date for the party and she mumbled that she'd be delighted, half-aware she was even speaking at the time. But there was nothing she could do about that now. So now, here they were, going to a party, together.

Cooper held out his hand invitingly. Jody paused a moment before taking it a twirling around is his arms. She smiled at him and her kissed her on the check before escorting her through the door. Cooper took her jacket and hung it on a rack of hangars. Then he took her hand and they walked to the large ballroom.

It was full of table with food and places to sit, as well as a podium on a small stage and a large dancing area. Some slow (classical type) music was playing in the background and a few formally dressed people were dancing. Jody watched them, wishing she were out there. Cooper glanced at her face and took her hand again.

"Come on." he whispered in her ear.

They walked out onto the dancing floor and began to dance, Jody wrapped in Cooper's arms. It reminded her about when Jonathan and Kathleen had danced together at the ABC party from 3 years ago. It also reminded her of the salsa club with Charlie, but she reluctantly tried to push that image out her head and enjoy the moment.

After a few dances Cooper said he had to go talk to the guests and all, since he was the main guy (director, owner, founder, whatever it's called). Jody nodded understandingly and watched Cooper walk over to a table of ballet fans and company members.

Jody watched him for a while before snapping out of her trance and realizing what she was doing. She lightly hit her forehead and then walked around trying to find a phone. When she finally found a phone in the hallway she put a quarter in the use box (not a pay phone, but a box that collects money for the building's people for phone usage) and dialed.

"Hello?" the voice said.

"Charlie! Hey! Sorry I didn't call you earlier."

"Jody? What do you mean 'earlier'."

"Oh, well I got your messages about an hour ago but I didn't have a chance to call you until now. You see, the company is having a big party to celebrate it's being open for two years. So, I got home and played your messages while I was getting changed but then Coop came to pick me up and-"

"Coop?"

"Uh, yeah. Cooper. Anyway, so he came and I had to-"

"COOP???" Charlie said, almost yelling into the phone.

"Yes, Charlie, Coop! Or Cooper if you like it better that way."

"Well, why was _Cooper_ at _your apartment_?"

Jody sighed. "He was coming to pick me up." she said slowly, as if Charlie was deaf and only knew 2 syllable words.

"Yeah, but why? I thought you were over him! God, Jody, did you forget you had a boyfriend or something? I'm sorry, but really! How many times has this happened already? Do you love _him _or _me_."

Jody sighed again and rolled her eyes. She should have known better to tell Charlie about Cooper. "Charlie!!! Hello?!?!? We are NOT dating here! Me and Cooper I mean. He needed a date- not actually a date as in girlfriend, but you know what I mean- for the party and since he thought it should be someone that had at least something to with ballet-"

"He immediately thought of his ex-girlfriend who usually tells him off when Charlie's around, but never does when he's not! Right?"

"No! Charlie!" Jody said, wanting to cry, "He asked some of the other people, but they were either busy or already had dates, so he asked me. He even explained that I didn't have to go if it would be weird or uncomfortable for me. But he had to go with a date, you know you would hate to show up to a party this big by yourself, so I said yes. Mostly out of sympathy though, Charlie."

Charlie paused a moment. "Ok. I'm sorry, Jody. I-"

"It's ok. Look, I really should go back to the party, ok? Bye!"

"Ok, bye Jody. I love you."

"Bye Charlie."

They hung up and Jody gathered herself and went back out into the ballroom. She saw Cooper talking with some girl about her age. Jody watched jealously before mentally slapping herself.

"What is wrong with me? Am I still in love with Cooper? No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! I never loved Cooper in the first place! I love Charlie! I do. I do. I really do. I do! I……… do I? Yes! Yes I do! Of course I do! I almost married him for God's sake! Almost. Almost. I would have! I really would have! Except I slept with Cooper. Cooper. Cooper! How could I hurt Charlie like that? Am I insane? Yes. I have to be. Why else would I do this to Charlie? To myself? To Cooper? Wait! Why do I care about what I did to Cooper? I DON'T LOVE HIM!!! ARG! Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! I love Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! I love Charlie! Of course I do! Why wouldn't I? He's sweet. He's nice. He's sweet. He's cute. He's sweet. He's unbelievably hot. I…… I love him. I do. I really do. Cooper's cute, sure, but who cares? He treats me like shit and I don't love him. Nope. I don't. I love Charlie. Charlie." Jody thought to herself as she starred blankly into space.

When Cooper found her a few minutes later he walked up to her.

"Are you okay Sweets?" he asked, putting his arm around her. She instantly pulled away and Cooper look at her, his gigantic ego bruised. "What?"

"Look, Cooper, I don't know why I'm here with you. I'm sorry, but I really _really_ really don't love you. I'm sorry but I don't. I know you still love me somewhere in your twisted screwed up mind, but I don't love you. And you know what, I'm not sorry. I don't care. I'm gonna stay here for the company and all, but just don't talk to me."

"Puuhh!! Whatever!" Cooper said, and then walked over to a skinny blond girl and introduced himself.

"Urh! Hello. I'm Cooper the sleeze-butt!" Jody said mockingly.

She sighed and went around talking to different people about the company and ballet and all. She saw this really sad-looking gut standing over in the corner, watching everyone. She cautiously went up to him.

"Hi! I'm Jody Sawyer. I'm one of the principle dancers in the company. What's your name?"

"Adam. It's nice to meet you, Jody. I'm not a dancer, but I've seen you dance and I think you're wonderful." he said, cheering up and shaking her hand.

"Well, thank you Adam. How come you're way over here in the corner?"

"I just…… I'm not much of a social guy, you know?"

Jody nodded and grabbed his hand. "Come on." She said, and dragged him out to the dance floor. "Let's dance!"

Adam hesitated before taking Jody's hand and dancing a few songs.

Cooper watched jealously from Alicia's arms on the dance floor. Alicia was nice and pretty and all, but she was no Jody. He got an idea and excused himself from Alicia and found a phone. He racked his brain trying to remember the right phone number before dialing it.

"Hello?" Charlie answered.


	7. Part 1: Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Charlie woke up in his warm bed, sweating. He was only wearing boxers, but he was still dying of heat. He had been tossing and turning all night long dreaming of Jody. Cooper had called him the night before to say that Jody had been cheating on him with some weird guy at the party.

Charlie didn't do anything at first, just sat on the couch trying not to explode. Then he called Jamalee to randomly see how Erik was doing. She told him that he was doing fine and that he was sleeping because it was almost 10pm. He then went to bed, but didn't fall asleep for a couple of hours.

It was almost 2pm when he woke up, so he frantically called ABC- Jonathan- to apologize for not showing up. Then he had a small lunch- he wasn't in the mood for much eating- and watched tv for a few hours, waiting. He wasn't waiting for anything in particular, just waiting.

Around 6pm, his phone rang.

"Hello? It's Charlie. Please don't make this long, I really don't wanna talk much."

"Charlie?"

"Oh, hey Jodianne."

"Jodianne? Since when do you call me by my whole name?"

"I, uh, sorry. I dunno. I'm just, uh, tired."

"I bet. Look, whatever Cooper told you-"

"Forget it Jody."

"Really?" She asked, "Do you mean it?"

"Sure. If you don't wanna go out, then forget about it."

"Charlie! I want to go out with you. You are my boyfriend! I love you. I don't know what Cooper said last night, but it's not true."

"He said you were cheating on me with some weird guy at the party."

"Charlie, that's stupid. Adam is a fan and he looked really sad, so I just danced with him. It was just a dance."

"Yeah, and Pluto is just a dog."

"Pluto IS just a dog."

"Also a planet."

"Ok?"

"Nevermind." Charlie said, "I have to go, it's my day with Erik."

"Ok, bye! Tell him I say hi."

"He's just a baby."

"I know, but still. Bye! I love you."

"Yeah, Bye." Charlie said, and quickly hung up. It wasn't his day with Erik, he didn't even have a day. He just was sort of always there to have a day.

He fell asleep in front of the tv after a while, and woke up at 6am the next morning. He had a small breakfast, he still wasn't very hungry, and then went off to ABC. When he got there Jonathan looked at him with raised eyebrows.

Charlie had barely combed his hair, was only wearing shorts and a white undershirt, and still looked half-asleep. Charlie mumbled a hello before going into the bathroom to change into his ballet dancing outfit and shoes and stuff.

When he came out he went into the rehearsal room and sat, trying to remember the steps to his ballet. He began dancing them, and suddenly his head was all clear. He blocked the whole world out and just listened to the peaceful music and danced. Just danced.

When her saw the company dancers watching him from the corner of his eye, he stopped abruptly and started the rehearsal before anyone could say anything.

When it was over everyone left and Charlie sank into one of the chairs next to Jonathan.

"Excellent work today, Charlie. What's so different about your dancing today? You really inspired the dancers."

Charlie shrugged. "I dunno. I'm just really stressed."

"Humph! Usually that makes me horrible."

Charlie smiled weakly and then shrugged again. "What can I say? When I'm this stressed, I, uh, puh, I dunno."

"Why so stressed then?"

Charlie didn't answer at first but when Jonathan shifted in his seat he quickly answered. "Jody."

"Oh really? I would have thought it was Erik or something, baby's always stressed me out, they take so much work."

Charlie nodded. "They do. But Jody takes even more work."

Jonathan chuckled and then said, "So, what did she do this time?"

"I'm not sure. Cooper keeps telling me all this stuff, but Jody keeps denying it. I know I should trust her and all, I mean, I love her, but Cooper always sounds so sure of himself when he talks. As when Jody talks, she makes everything sort of sound like a question."

Jonathan nodded again. "Yeah, I know what you mean. It's so hard to tell. But I know what it's like to have Cooper standing in the way of the one you love."

Charlie smiled and puff-laughed before saying, "Well, I gotta run. See ya tomorrow."

"Bye!" Jonathan called after him.

*****

Jody sat in her car, which was parked outside her apartment building. She was supposed to meet Adam for lunch, but she felt more like Cameron in "Ferris Buller's Day Off", when he can't decided weather or not to go to Ferris's house. Cameron gave in and ended up going at the end of his fit. Jody didn't have a fit, but she did end up driving to the Italian restaurant to meet Adam.

It wasn't a fancy restaurant or anything, so Jody was only wearing a pair of flare blue jeans and a small tee shirt. When she got there, Adam was standing outside wearing jeans and a blur tank with a white button down shirt over it.

Adam watched her hop out of her car and walk over to him. He could feel his heart skipping random beats left and right. He had fallen in love with Jody several years ago when he first saw her dance in the first company ballet. He had made it a point to find out all her could about her. By just hanging around the company a lot, he found out quite a lot.

He knew that when Jody was 19 she moved from Indiana to New York to attend ABA for a year. She dated Cooper Neilson for a small while there, but he had broken her heart. Then she dated Charlie, and almost married him. She got pregnant with Cooper and dumped Charlie on their wedding day. The pregnancy test had been wrong, but she never spoke to Charlie again for 2 years after that.

He knew that she then briefly got back together with Cooper, but then quickly broke up with him. Jody went to visit Charlie and they got back together. He knew that Charlie had a son with Jamalee- his ex-fiancée- and he even knew that Jody and Charlie had had a fight last night.

"Hey!" Adam said when Jody reached him smiling, "Are you ready?"

"Yep." Jody said, and they went inside. They both ordered pasta, though Jody ordered a small one, with a salad on the side. She ate more of the salad then the pasta, but Adam didn't seem to notice.

"Look." Jody said, "I know you're really nice and all, and you'll probably get nicer and cuter as we spend more time together, but I have a boyfriend."

"I know."

"You do? How?"

"Oh, I know a lot. I hang around your company a lot, and I know all about you and Cooper and Charlie and everything." Adam explained.

"How much do you know, exactly?" Jody asked.

Adam told her all he knew, in complete detail as Jody sat there, totally speechless. When he was done, they talked a while longer before Jody announced she had to go. They said good-bye and left.

When Jody got home she called Charlie right away.

"Hello?" he answered, sounding a little less depressed.

"I love you."

"I love you to Jody."

"So then, are we still together?"

"Yes, Definitely."

"Ok." Jody said.

"Hey, did you have lunch yet?"

"Well, yes. But Charlie, we live so far apart we are two different time zones." Jody reminded him.

"Oh yeah. Opps." Charlie said, laughing.

After they hung up Jody took a long, relaxing shower. As she let the warm water rum all over her body, she thought about Charlie. Adam popped into her head several times, but she blocked him out as much as she could.

Jody could not believe herself! She had finally gotten totally over Cooper so she could finally really love Charlie, when she goes and meets Adam. Maybe, she thought, nothing will happen between us. Though she knew that was very, very, very doubtful. After her shower, which was a little over an hour, she called Charlie again.

"Hello?"

"I love you."

"You too."

"I miss you."

"You too."

"I have to move."

"Huh?" Charlie asked.

"I have to move to New York."

"What???"

"I have too. See, I love you, and if I don't move, then this will never work out."

"Um, ok then."

"So, can I move into your place?"

"Uh, sure."

"When can you have me?"

"Whenever." Charlie said.

"Is two weeks okay?" Jody asked.

"Sure, that's great."

"Ok. Bye! See you then. Love you Charlie."

"Bye." Charlie said. He hung up and sighed. He looked at the girl sitting on his couch.

It was the petit redhead from his ballet- also the one Jody had seen with Juliette before. She was only wearing a small red and blur bikini.

"Ok then, sorry about that. Uh, come stand here." Charlie said, pointing to a spot on the floor next to him.

Kellsea- that's the redhead- stood up and went next to Charlie. He took her in his arms and began to dance. He could not believe that he had agrees to help Kellsea learn the ballet at his own apartment. Everyone in the whole company knew that Kellsea was in love with Charlie.

When they got to the part where Charlie (who was taking Miles Deemond's place) held Kellsea and ran his fingers through her hair, he reluctantly did so. Kellsea smiled and began to kiss Charlie. After a few seconds Charlie violently pulled back.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Charlie screamed.

Kellsea looked at him, hurt and confused. "What? Don't you like me?"

"What? No!" Charlie yelled.

"Well, why not?

"Well, geesh! I have a girlfriend."

"Oh." Kellsea looked depressed, "Who?"

"Why does it matter?"

"I dunno. Please??"

"Jody." Charlie said softly.

"Jody?" Kellsea looked confused for a moment before her eye lit up, "Jody Sawyer?"

"Yes."

"She that blond girl that came to rehearsal like a year ago, right? The one that broke-up you and Jamalee?"

Charlie cringed. "We would have broken up anyway.

"Huh?"

Charlie sighed and rolled his eyes. "It's a long story."

Kellsea sat down on the couch and crossed her legs. "I've got time."

Charlie sat down on the couch next to her after pausing a few seconds.

"Ok." Charlie began, "I went to ABA for a year before I went to, er, uh, got accepted to, ABC. I met Jody there and fell in love with her before we were even really close. She loved Cooper Neilson, but he totally broke her heart. We went out after that and were, uh, in love." Charlie completely forgot Kellsea was there and started pouring his heart out. "I loved her so much. She was just so nice and funny and……… well, perfect. I loved so much. I would have died for her. She loved me too. So, I proposed and we were about to get married, but-" Charlie stopped, suddenly remembering Kellsea.

"But what?" Kellsea asked eagerly.

"But……… we didn't. I was gonna marry Jamalee, but we broke up and now I'm back with Jody." Charlie explained quickly and in one short breath.

Kellsea tilted her head. "What happened?"

"Nothing."

"No, really." she insisted.

Charlie stood up and glared at her. "Go him already! This is my personal life, God! It is not an open book for everyone to read whenever they please! Go!" he turned and locked himself into his room.

About five minutes later he went back out and saw Kellsea sitting on his couch looking at a small photo album. "OUT!!!!" he yelled.

Kellsea left in a hurry, still only wearing her bikini (she thought it would be easier to dance in- and to impress Charlie), and taking the photo album with her.

She drove to her small apartment and took got dressed. She lay down gracefully onto her bed and took out the photo album and opened it.

The first picture was of only Jody. Kellsea flicked the picture and flipped through the rest of it. There were some pictures of Charlie and Jody during and after ABA. There were one or two pictures of Jamalee towards the end, but Kellsea ignored those.

The last pictures was of Charlie and Jody standing in front a tall building in New York about a month before their wedding.

Charlie had had his arm around Jody and she was holding out her free hand to show the engagement ring. He was kissing her on the cheek and she was smiling sweetly at the camera.

Kellsea examined the photo carefully before slamming the album shut. She placed it gently on a small table in front of the couch. She gave it back to Charlie the next day, trying to ignore the fact that he was totally pissed at her.

Charlie didn't know how he was going to teach that day, he was just so mad at Kellsea he could hardly stand it. Though he managed to do ok, he was still way too tense do to any major dancing himself.

After the class he rushed home with the photo album and fell asleep.

*****

1 month later Charlie walked through the door of his apartment and looked around for Jody. She was sitting on his bed, flipping through a magazine. Charlie plopped down next to her and they began to kiss. 

Jody had been accepted into ABC, and was now also helping Charlie finish up his ballet. Kellsea was really jealous and truly hated Jody. Jody tried to push that aside as she helped her dance, though with Kellsea's dirty looks directed at her all day, it was really hard.

After a few minutes Charlie's doorbell rang. Jody pulled away and went to answer it. After fixing her hair in the mirror, she opened the door.

Both Cooper and Adam were standing there, ignoring each other and waiting for Jody to do something.


	8. Part 1: Chapter 8

Chapter 8 ****

Chapter 8

Charlie looked up at Jody from the couch. He was sitting uncomfortably between Cooper and Adam. Jody was staring at them from where she stood in front of the couch. She didn't know what in the world she was going to do. She wanted Cooper out of her life, but she liked Adam enough to keep as a friend. She loved Charlie, but didn't really want to hurt him or Adam, though she couldn't care less about Cooper. She decided to make it quick, to let them all down easily and quick before she let her emotions get the better of her.

"Ok." She began, "Cooper. Cooper, I don't love you. I never ever, ever, ever have, ok? It's time for you to get over me. And I'm sure your company will do fine with out me. I'm not coming back and you can't change my mind."

Cooper glared at Jody, and hen at Charlie. He got up and left, his coat still on the hook in the wall. He came back a few seconds later to give them all the finger and grad his coat. Jody shrugged him off and to Charlie and Adam. It had been easy, almost fun, to flick off Cooper, but Adam was another story. He was just so sweet and cute, Jody dreaded to hurt him like this.

"Adam? I hardly even know you. I've only meet you twice, and I don't love you. How could I? I don't even know your last name yet, let alone know you enough to love you. I'm sorry. But, if you want, I still want to be friends." Jody said, looking into Adam's big sad brown eyes.

Adam nodded and shifted away from Charlie. He knew that Jody didn't love him, and he couldn't blame her. He just hadn't expected it to be so hard and hurtful when she told him that.

"Charlie, I love you. You know that, so don't worry about Cooper. Okay?"

Charlie smiled and stood up, ignoring Adam. He took Jody's face and held it in his hands. "I love you too." He said before he leaned in to kiss her. Adam cleared his throat and stood up. When neither Charlie nor Jody acknowledged him, he left, leaving them kissing passionately on the couch.

A few hours later Charlie and Jody lay sleeping in his bed. Jody wasn't wearing anything so she shivered, waking Charlie. He looked at his girlfriend, sleeping peacefully in his arms. His doorbell rang and he pulled away, waking Jody up. She blinked silently as she watched Charlie wrap a blue towel around his waist. Then he left his room to answer the door.

He opened the door and saw both his parents standing out in the hallway holding suitcases. 

"SURPRISE!" they both yelled.

Mrs. Sims looked at Charlie and raised her eyebrows. "Charlie," she began.

Charlie looked down at himself and quickly slammed the door. He ran back into his room and saw Jody sitting on his bed under the covers. "Hurry!! Get dressed now! My parents are here!" Charlie said, panicking.

Jody sprang out of bed and threw on some underwear, a pair of really short jean shorts and a yellow tube top- no bra, the only clothes available at the time. She was really nervous because she had never met Charlie's parents before, not even before the wedding. And a fine first impression she had just made, sleeping with their son.

Charlie put on some underwear, a pair of guy shorts, and an old red tank. He grabbed Jody be the wrist and in less than 4 minutes he had his arm around Jody and he opened the door.

Mrs. Sims looked at Charlie and Jody and her eyes lit up, as if she finally understood the situation. Mr. Sims tried to ignore what had just happened and hugged his son along with his wife.

"Uh, mom and dad, this is my girlfriend, Jody Sawyer."

"It's nice to meet you Jody dear. Oh, wait! Jody? Jody Sawyer? _The_ Jody Sawyer? The one you almost married?" Mrs. Sawyer asked, her eyes suddenly getting very narrow.

Charlie got very tense and Jody could feel it. "Well, yeah, but let's not get into that." He said.

Mr. Sims sensed his son's nervousness and changed the subject. "So, can we come in now, Charlie?"

"Sure." Charlie mumbled as he moved out the way.

Mr. and Mrs. Sims walked into Charlie's apartment and put their bags down. Jody watched them nervously. She didn't think they liked her very much. First, they must know all about Jody and Cooper and their almost baby, so they probably totally disapproved of that. Next, they had just caught them sleeping together.

Mrs. Sims sat down on one side of the couch, next to Charlie who was in the middle. Jody was on the other side of Charlie and he had her arms around her. He would occasionally give her small kisses on he cheek while they all talked.

"So, Charlie?" Mr. Sims asked, "What have you been up to lately?"

Charlie thought a moment before answering. "Well, as you know, I broke up with Jamalee, had a son, and got back with the only girl I've ever loved." Jody smiled when he said this and waited for someone to respond.

"So how is my precious little grandson anyway?" Mrs. Sims cooed.

"He's okay. He's at Jamalee's now."

"Oh Vinney! We must visit little Erik while we are here!" Mrs. Sims squeaked to Mr. Sims. Mr. Sims ignored her, but nodded to acknowledge her speaking.

"So, how long _are_ you staying?" Jody asked.

"Only a few days, probably only about a week."

Charlie sighed in relief and looked at Jody.

"So Charlie. When you said the only girl you ever loved, did you mean Jonnie here?"

"Jody, Dad. And yes, I did."

"What about Jamalee and Sandra?" Mr. Sims asked.

"No."

"Sandra?" Jody asked.

"I'll tell you later." Charlie said.

"Are you sure, Charlie?" Mr. Sims asked again.

"Yes, Dad. I _love_ her."

"Humph!" Mr. Sims grunted.

Jody could feel Charlie tense up again. She gave him a reassuring smile, but it didn't help. He just sat there, trying not to explode.

"Charles, speaking of Sandra, I saw her the other day at K-MART. I told her we were coming to visit you and she said she'd be up tomorrow! Isn't that nice?" Mrs. Sims said.

Charlie could feel a vein start to stick out of his neck. He angrily stood up. "Excuse me." He said and went into his room. He shut the boor and plopped down onto his bed.

"So, Jody, tell us about your self. You're a dancer too, right?" Mrs. Sims said after a moment.

Jody glared at her for a second before standing up. "Excuse me." She said and opened Charlie's door. She locked it behind her and turned around to face Charlie.

She stood in the middle of the floor and Charlie held her in his arms. He began to kiss her. After about 10 minutes Charlie's parents barged through the door, holding a screwdriver and the doorknob. They saw Charlie and Jody making out. Charlie's shirt was on the floor, along with Jody's tube top.

Mr. Sims coughed and Jody screamed. She grabbed he shirt off the floor and ran across the room into the small walk in closet. Charlie looked at his parents, totally horrified. He picked up his tank and shoved it on over his head. Jody was still in the closet, hiding her half-naked body.

Charlie led his parents back out into the main room and suggested they got rent their hotel room. They agreed, picked up their suitcases, and left.

Charlie slowly entered his room again. Jody was still in the closet. "Jody?" Charlie called out.

"Charlie? I'm sooooo embarrassed! Your parents aren't supposed to see me naked!"

"I know, I know! They weren't supposed to walk in on us after sleeping together either."

"Well, yeah." Jody said, coming out of the closet. She was wearing one of Charlie's old large sweatshirts. "Where did they go?"

"To the hotel?"

Charlie kissed Jody softly before they went out to the couch. Charlie put his hand around her and they turned on the tv. When Mr. and Mrs. Sims returned, Charlie was on top of Jody and they were kissing- in their clothes- on the couch. Mr. Sims smiled and went peacefully back to the hotel, dragging his wife behind him.

"So," Jody asked later that night, "Who's Sandra?"

Charlie sighed. "She was my girlfriend before ABA, you remember, the one who dumped me."

"Yeah? And?"

"And we were really close. We were only 18, so we weren't going to get married or anything. I think she might have loved me, but I didn't love her. I didn't really know what love was then, I was only just barley 18. When she dumped me, I figured I'd be heart-broken for life. But it actually didn't hurt much at all."

"So what was with her this afternoon?"

"Well, we used to say we loved each other, and she did. I didn't, but everyone thought that I did and that we'd get married and all. We didn't, of course, and…… I dunno." Charlie shrugged and looked at Jody, hoping that covered all she wanted to know.

"Oh. I see. When was the last time you saw her?"

"The day we broke up."

"Oh." Jody said, sounding a little weird.

"Are you okay?" Charlie asked.

"What's going to happen tomorrow when she comes?"

"I don't know. Let's get some sleep, ok?"

They went and crawled under the warm covers of Charlie's be and fell asleep.

When they woke-up the next morning they hurried and got dressed. Charlie put on blue Hawaii print guy shorts and a white tank. Jody put on a short light blue skirt and a lime-green spaghetti strap shirt. She fixed her hair up all nice and waited.

At exactly 2pm the doorbell rang. Both Charlie and Jody went to answer it. Jody opened the door, and a tall, thin girl was standing outside. She had strait brown hair and looked a little like Maureen. She was wearing flare blue jeans and an orange tube-top.

"Hey! I'm Sandra Evans." She said sweetly. 


	9. Part 1: Chapter 9

Chapter 9 ****

Chapter 9

Jody looked at Sandra for a few seconds before opening the door all the way to reveal Charlie standing behind her, his arms wrapped around her waist.

"Charlie!!" Sandra screamed in Jody's face.

Jody quickly moved out of the way as Sandra attacked Jody in a hug. After a few seconds Charlie pulled away and went to go stand next to Jody. He cleared his throat and turned to face Sandra.

"Jody, this is Sandra Evans. Sandra, this is my girlfriend, Jody Sawyer." He said, taking Jody's hand.

"Uh huh, hi." Sandra said, barley even glancing at Jody, "Oh Charlie! It's so _great_ to see you again!" She said, hugging him again. She jumped up on him, wrapping her legs around his waist. This caused Charlie to put his hands under her butt to prevent her from falling. He gave Jody an apologetic look and she gave him a phony smile, though he didn't know it was fake.

Sandra jumped down off of Charlie and gave him a look that said, "Ha! Ha! Take that!"

Jody's whole face fell as she sat down on the couch, but Charlie didn't seem to notice. Sandra sat down on the other side of the couch and Charlie sat in between them. He put his arm around Jody.

They talked foe several hours until Sandra started to get nosey.

"How long have you two known each other?" She asked in a fake sweet voice.

"A few years. We met in ABA." Charlie explained.

"I see. So, Charlie, what do you do now?"

"The same."

"BALLET?? God, when are you going to get a JOB??"

Jody was beginning to get really pissed off at Sandra. "Ballet is a real Job." She said softly.

"What was that?" Sandra asked.

"BALLET IS A REAL JOB YOU ASS-HOLE!! YOU ARE JUST TO BLIND TO SEE A GOOD THING- NAMELY CHARLIE- WHEN YOU SEE IT RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR FUGDE FAT FACE!!!" Jody yelled.

Charlie sighed deeply, trying to ignore the whole thing.

"CHARLIE SIMS LOVES ME!!!" Sandra yelled back.

"CHARLIE NEVER LOVED YOU!! HE TOLD ME HIMSELF!"

"NO YOU FLICK HEAD!! Charlie just doesn't know who you are. You have SEX with other guys while you're engaged to Charlie!!"

Jody began to cry and she ran into Charlie's room.

"SANDRA! Stop it NOW! Ok? I DON'T LOVE YOU!!! I love JODY and she's been trying really hard, she just wants to be your friend. But you're not making it any EASIER now, ARE YOU??" Charlie screamed into Sandra's face. Then he went into his room and locked the door.

Sandra stared at the door for a moment before picking up her bags and placing them into the guestroom. She sat down on the bed and looked around. The walls were blank and there was nothing in the room except furniture and except a poster in the middle of the floor. It was the poster logo for THE COOPER NEILSON DANCE COMPANY in Chicago. She picked up the poster and looked at Cooper holding Jody up in the air.

She took the poster and found some tape in the desk drawer. She taped it outside the bedroom door and shut it, sitting down on the couch. She turned on the tv and waited for Charlie or Jody- mostly Charlie- to come out of the room. Neither came out, so at 10 Sandra went into the guestroom and fell asleep on top of the covers.

The next morning when she woke up, both Charlie and Jody were already at ABC. She grabbed a bagel out of Charlie's fridge and warmed it up in the microwave. She ate it while shuffling through Charlie's room.

She didn't find anything she was looking for, but she did find Jody's diary.

^^^^^^^^

Dear Diary,

I'm moving to New York tomorrow. To live with Charlie. I love him. But if I stay here in Chicago, I'll end up with Adam. Or even worse, Cooper. I don't want to hurt Charlie like that. Or me. Or Adam. Or Charlie. Especially not Charlie. So that's why I'm moving. I'll miss Chicago, sure, but I'd miss Charlie 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times more.

~Jody

^^^

Dear Diary,

Today Charlie's parents came to visit for a surprise. They came right after me and Charlie….. yeah. It was soooo embarrassing. Then Mr. Sims kept asking Charlie all these questions about Jamalee and Sandra and poor Charlie got so mad. So we were kissing in his room and his parents barged in and I was half-naked and they saw me!!! It was so embarrassing! I don't know how I can ever face them again. Well, that's kind of stupid. Anyway, they can't expect me and Charlie to only hold hands after all that's happened between us so far. Our almost wedding, and my almost Cooper's baby, and all that. And with Jamalee and Charlie's adorable little baby.

Speaking of Erik, I didn't know that Mr. and Mrs. Sims knew about him! Oh well, it's not like Charlie could hide his own son! But I don't think Sandra knows though. She's Charlie's ex. The one that dumped him for dancing ballet. How stupid is that! It shouldn't matter what a person does as long as you love them. Oh well, her loss. Her MAJOR loss. Charlie is so sweet. I don't know how I could have hurt him like that. Cooper's such an ass anyway. And Charlie's hotter. And sweeter. And…… well, I think Cooper might be a little cuter, but only sometimes, oh yeah, that made sense.

Anyway. Sandra's coming tomorrow. I don't know if I should be nervous or what. Charlie did tell me he never loved her, but still. Anyway, it's late and I should get some sleep. Bye!

~Jody

^^^^^^^^^^^

Sandra put the diary back into the desk drawer and placed everything neatly back where it came from so no one would find out what she had done. She went back to the door to the guestroom. She drew all over Cooper's face on the poster with a black marker. She smiled at her work and then looked at her watch.

It was almost 11:30, so she went out to her car and drove to the nearest McDonalds. She odered a double cheeseburger, large fries, and a large soda. She sat down at a 2-person booth and ate.

She couldn't figure out for the life of her how Charlie managed to go so long with out fatty, greasy foods, especially McDonalds or BurgerKing. She admired Charlie for doing that, but knew it was just for his career. Which brought up another point. Why the hell did Charlie dance ballet? It was so girlish. And Sandra knew so many gay ballet dancers, it was scary. She couldn't figure out why Charlie loved it so much. The performances were just so boring, she had a hard time not falling asleep when she came to one. It bothered her a lot that he found someone that not only encouraged his dancing ballet, but was a ballet dancer herself.

And what was with this baby? What had Jody ment in her diary about a baby? Charlie had a son? Named Erik? Ew! If he had a son, why would he name it such an ugly name? Actually, now that she knew the name Erik had something- anything- to do with Charlie, she loved it. Sandra was like that a lot. If something had to do with the guy she loved- namely Charlie- she loved it right away. Except ballet, she could never love ballet. Especailly because it was the one thing that tore them apart. If Charlie had done anything else- anything in the whole world- they would be happily married right now.

But no! Of course, Charlie had to find someone he loved that didn't hate ballet. Someone that was perfect in her outside appearance, as well as inside. Sandra didn't think that Jody was a bitch or anything, just perfect. Or at least, perfect to Charlie. And that made Sandra hate Jody. Now there were 2 things that stood between her and the man of her dreams, ballet and Jody Sawyer.

Sandra sighed and finished her lunch. Afterward she drove around, trying to find the ABC building. She couldn't find it in 30 minutes so she gave up and went back to Charlie's place. When she got there Charlie and Jody were waiting for her. And boy, were they _mad_!


	10. Part 1: Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Charlie was holding Jody's hand. Jody was squeezing his and as hard as she could without hurting him. Charlie looked at Jody before letting go of her hand. He stepped forward.

"What??" Sandra asked.

"What exactly were you doing in our room??"

"Huh?" Sandra asked innocently.

"All our stuff is screwed up and Jody said her diary book thing- I don't even know what it looks like- isn't where she had put it last time."

"I…………… I dunno."

"Did you read it?" Jody asked.

"No…… not all of it at least."

"What did you read?"

"The one where before you moved to New York. And last nights. Charlie! Do you know what she said? She said you slept together last night and that you were awful. She did!"

"I didn't!!" Jody said. Pleading to Charlie.

"Oh, and who's Erik?" Sandra asked.

"My son." Charlie said softly, inching away from Jody.

"CHARLIE!!!" Sandra exclaimed.

"Shut up!" Charlie said.

Jody looked at him in surprise and went to hug him, but he backed off. Jody looked at him hurt, but he ignored it. He was too upset with the whole world to give a shit what his girlfriend felt like, however selfish that was. The phone rang and Jody moved to pick it up. She paused a moment before answering it, looking over at Charlie.

"Hello?"

"Hello Jody, It's Mrs. Sims."

"Oh, hi."

"Is now a good time to come over?"

"Well, actually-" Jody began.

"Excellent! We'll be over in 10 minutes. Toodles!"

"Bye." Jody sighed into the phone before turning back to Charlie where he was standing in the corner. "Your parents are on their way." She told him after hanging up the phone.

Charlie took several deep breaths. "Ok, Ok, Ok. I can do this. Ok." He mumbled to himself.

Jody wanted so much to go over and comfort him, but she knew that would make him even more tense. Jody knew she hadn't written that in her diary. It was as far from the truth as it could possibly get.

Jody sat down on the couch and Sandra sat on the other side, as far away as possible. Charlie got out two folding chairs for his parents and sat down in his own recliner. A few minutes later Mr. and Mrs. Sims came through the door.

They looked at Charlie, Sandra, and Jody, but ignored the distressed looks on their faces and sat down on the uncomfortable metal folding chairs.

"Hello Sandra, dear. Are you having a good time here in New York?"

"Yes, Mrs. Sims."

"Glad to hear it. Hello Jody! How have you and Sandra been getting along?" Mrs. Sims asked as Mr. Sims rolled his eyes so back into his head that Jody couldn't see them anymore.

"Ok, I guess." Jody said, letting her eyes wander. They hit the guestroom door and she saw the poster up there for the first time. Then she saw what Sandra had drawn all over it. "Excuse me." Jody said and she got up in a hurry. She rushed to Charlie's room and shut the door. She lay down on the bed and began to cry into the pillow.

Charlie ignored her- he was still really mad- and went on talking to Sandra and his parents. Luckily no one brought up Erik. He didn't want to have to explain that whole thing to Sandra right then. But he did want to explain something to them all- right then.

"I love her." Charlie said suddenly.

"Love who?" Mrs. Sims asked.

"Jody."

"We know." Mr. and Mrs. Sims said together.

"You do?" Sandra asked Charlie.

"Yes. I always have, ever since I met her.

Sandra looked into his eyes and saw love. Only love. Not love for her, love for someone else. Jody. She knew that he loved her and it hurt more than when Charlie left for New York. "I love ballet." She said quickly.

"No you don't. And even if you did, it wouldn't matter. I love Jody. I never loved you anyway, even when we were together. I never even loved Jamalee. Only Jody."

"Who's Jamalee?"

"I'll tell you later. I just wanted all of you to know that I loved Jody."

"Ok." Everyone chorused.

Meanwhile…… Jody was still sobbing into the warm pillow. Why did Sandra have to do that? She had gotten that poster when she first joined Cooper's company. It had been hanging in the window until Coop had given it to her. She loved that poster almost as much as Charlie- however stupid that may sound- it was true. Now it was ruined. She hated Sandra. It wasn't one of those things you could just go out and replace. It was the sentimental value that matted to Jody. But now it was ruined forever. She really hated Sandra.

"Well, if you love her so much, why don't you go in there and make her feel better?" Mrs. Sims asked Charlie.

"Because I have company." Charlie said looking down at his untied shoelaces.

Mrs. Sims smiled and Mr. Sims sulked down into his chair. Sandra just looked at Charlie, not saying anything. After a few minutes of silence Charlie finally said something.

"So, anyone for lunch?"

"It's 2 in the afternoon!" Mrs. Sims exclaimed.

Charlie nodded and shrugged. "So? No one has lunch today yet, so why not?"

Sandra shrugged. "I'm up for it." She lied. She stood up and got her jacket from the guestroom. When she came back out everyone else- except Jody- was up and had their coats on.

"What about her?" Mrs. Sims asked, nodding her head in the direction of Charlie's room.

Charlie looked at the shut door before storming over to the door. He knocked. "Lunch, Jody!" He called. A few seconds later Jody came out, wearing her shortest pair of jean shorts and her smallest tube top. She ripped her coat off the hook in the wall and walked out the door.

"Are you guys coming or what?" She asked as she walked down the hallway.

Charlie got over how hot she looked and followed. Then came Sandra, then Mr. and Mrs. Sims. They all piled into Charlie's car Charlie started to drive in the direction of a restaurant he knew. "You guys wanna go bowling instead?" He asked suddenly. "They have food there."

"Ok." Everyone mumbled. Charlie turned around and parked in the parking lot. Everyone got out and went it to get shoes and a ball.

Mr. Sims said he'd just watch because he had a sore back. So the teams were Sandra and Mrs. Sims and Charlie and Jody. Charlie and Jody didn't talk much except to boo the other team and congratulate each other on a good bowl. Charlie got a 167 and Jody got a 198. They won.

After that, they all got a small snack at the snack bar, and then went home. Jody went right into her room and shut the door. Charlie sat down on the couch and fell asleep, without realizing how exhausted he was. Mr. Sims had to drag Mrs. Sims out of the apartment and back to the hotel. Sandra went with them, and decided to go shopping with Mrs. Sims while Mr. Sims slept at the hotel.

A few hours later Sandra came back to Charlie's apartment. He was still sleeping on the couch and Jody was still in her room. Sandra sighed and packed up all her stuff. She found a piece of paper and a pen and taped a note to the kitchen counter.

---------------___________-------------_____________----------------

Charlie and Jody~

It's been fun and all, but I have to get back home. I was planning on staying longer, but my boss called and they need me back tomorrow. I'm really sorry. I miss you a lot Charlie! You have to come visit soon! Love ya lots!

~Sandra

-----------__________---------------_______________-----------------

The thing about her boss wasn't true, she just needed an excuse to get out of there. She grabbed her bags and left. She went to the airport and was on her way home within an hour.

When Charlie woke up he saw the note. He read it a few times, knowing it was a lie. She sighed and looked over at his door. She made his eyes come off it, as if anyone who looked at it would have a curse put on them. When he couldn't stand it anymore he opened the door and saw Jody sleeping on the bed, her tube top across her diagonally. She rolled over and woke up. She didn't see Charlie. She fixed her shirt and turned around. She saw Charlie standing there and stood up.

"Hey!" Charlie said.

"I didn't!"

"Huh?"

"I didn't write that in my dairy. If you want I can show you, because I didn't."

"That's ok. I believe you."

"Then how come you were acting all mad at me?"

"I don't know. I mean, you saw how insane my mom is around me and that always bugged me. And then Sandra had to come, but she left a few hours ago to go back home, and she still loved me, which is stupid. It's been like 5 years. And I'm just really stressed from ABC, and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you think I was mad at you." Charlie said as he went over to her.

He kissed her and they sat down on the bed and talked for a while. The phone rang and Charlie picked up the cordless phone in the bedroom.

"Hello?"

"Hi! You never told me who Jamalee was!"

"Sandra?"

"Yes! Surprise! Did you miss me?"


	11. Part 1: Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"No. Why would I?" Charlie asked Sandra.

"Hahaha. Whatever. So, who's Jamalee?

"A girl. She's a ballet dancer, and I was engaged to her. I didn't love her though, so we broke up. And she's also the mother of my soon. Good-bye." Charlie said and hung up. He looked over at Jody. He leaned in to kiss her but she pulled back.

"Who was that, Sandra?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

"What? Is that bad?"

"No."

"Ok." Charlie said as he leaned to kiss her again.

Jody pulled back again. She looked into Charlie's hurt and confused eyes. "Charlie? Where are we?"

"In our room." Charlie said, beginning to worry.

"No, I mean us."

"Oh. I, uh, well, what do you mean?"

"Us? Where are we? I know I love you. And I know you love me. But now what?"

"What is there to do?"

"Well? Ok, lemme put it this way. Do you love me the same way as when we were engaged?"

"Yes, of course."

"Ok. Now, what are we going to do next?"

"Next? I dunno."

Jody sighed and could tell Charlie was getting uncomfortable. She gave and kissed him. He kissed her back and held her close.

*** Several Months Later***

"Jody?" Charlie asked. He was sitting on his bed across from Jody.

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"I love you." He said again.

"You just said that."

"I know. I still love you."

"I love you too."

"Jody?"

"Yes?"

"I love you. Will you marry me?" Charlie asked as he pulled a small box out of his pocket. He flipped it open and the same silver ring he had given her before was resting inside.

Jody looked at the ring. Yes! Yes! Yes! Her whole body screamed to her. She looked up and Charlie's happy, anxious eyes. "I, I can't. I'm sorry." She said. She stood and left the apartment.

Charlie sat there, just sitting for a while/ He looked at the ring and then snapped the box shut. He placed it in the middle of the bed and went out onto the couch and sat. He put his hand on the tv remote and picked it up. He had his finger on the POWER button, but couldn't bring himself to press it.

He put the remote down and picked up a pillow. He stuffed it in his face and tried not to cry. He wasn't going to let himself cry. Sure, he loved Jody, but he was not going to cry over her, no way.

He could feel tears begin to run down his face. "Shit." He thought out loud. He lied down on the couch and cried himself to sleep. When he woke up, Jody was in the guestroom.

Charlie could see her sitting on the bed, the door wasn't closed. He whipped the dry tears away from his eyes and forced himself to not cry.

Jody looked down at her feet. She could feel Charlie looking at her. She got up and went over to the small desk and pulled a letter out of the top drawer. It had been in there for a week. She sat back down on the bed and unfolded it. She placed it down on the bed and read it over a few times.

Charlie walked in and snatched up the letter. He read it and looked up at Jody. "When did you get this?" He asked.

"Last Thursday." Jody said, not daring to look Charlie in the eye.

"Oh. Are you going?"

"I don't know. I was thinking about it. Are you?"

"I dunno, maybe."

"You should. It's really good. They…… He …… even wants you as a principle."

Charlie nodded and looked down at the letter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Charles Sims and Jody Sawyer,

Hello. You have been requested by Cooper Neilson to join the Cooper Neilson Dance Company. You are being offered two principle dancer spots. If you want to audition, you can, but you don't need to.

Please respond by the end of 1-½months. Thank-you.

~Allie Monroe, Cooper Neilson Dance Company, Secretary

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wow. This is amazing." Charlie said, not taking his eyes off the paper. "What are you going to do?"

Jody shrugged. "I'll go if you go."

Charlie closed his eyes for a minute. "Ok. Then we go."

Jody nodded, trying not to smile. Charlie put the letter back down in front of her and went out to the phone in their room. A few minutes later he hung up. He decided he should start packing when Erik entered his mind.

Tears began to form in his eyes again and he stomped his foot. "Shit!!" He yelled.

Jody rushed out of the guestroom. "What? What's wrong?"

Charlie sniffled, puffed, and sniffled again. "Erik. I have to leave my son. I promised myself when he was born that I'd be a good father. I can't see him everyday as it is, and I know that's bad. But now, I'll barley get to see him at all. This stinks. I have to leave him now. This would go into the bad father category."

Jody looked at Charlie, in disbelief at how sweet he was. "No, Charlie! It's doesn't go into that category. It doesn't go into any category. You can't help that. You can't help any of this. If you don't wanna go, you don't have to. It's ok. I can stay here, or I can go by myself, it's ok. Don't worry. Stay here."

"No. No, I want to go. It's ok."

"Are you sure?"

"Are you?" Charlie asked coldly.

Jody bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Charlie."

"Yeah, well, me too. One question though. Why? Or why not rather?"

Jody looked at him with sad, hurting eyes and saw her feelings mirrored in Charlie's eyes. "I can't explain it. I just couldn't say yes."

Charlie looked at her. "I have to go pack." He said and went into his room.

Jody followed him. "Me too."

They both sat down on the bed, not looking at each other.

"We don't have any boxes." Charlie noted.

"Oh yeah." Jody said, looking around the room. "When do we have to be there?"

"Next Saturday." Charlie said, remembering his phone conversation.

"Oh."

Charlie stood up and left with out and explanation. He returned over an hour later with about 40 cardboard boxes. They started packing and by the end of the day, they had everything but some clothes, furniture, and a few other things packed away.

The next morning Jody got up extra early and left for ABC before Charlie was even up. He was at ABC half and hour later and they both went in and told Jonathan the news. After that, Charlie went to find Jamalee and Jody went into the rehearsal room to warm up. Tomorrow- Friday- would be their last day.

When Charlie walked into the rehearsal room and saw all the dancers warming up. Jody, Jonathan, and Jamalee were sitting against the mirror wall. Charlie walked to the middle of the room and clapped his hands. Everyone turned to face him.

He motioned for Jody to stand up and come over to him, and she did. He announced the news to everyone and then they all got up and clapped. They all started screaming to thank them. Charlie took Jody's hand and squeezed it. She squeezed back and then let go.

Later that night they were packing and Charlie made a point not pack the small ring-box. Jody noticed and tried not to stare at it. She said they should take a break, so they did. They had lemonade and some pretzels while sitting on the couch.

Jody turned to face Charlie and for the first time in 2 days looked into his eyes. She noticed they were still hurting. "Yes." She said.

"What?"

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes, I'll marry you."

Charlie sprang and got the ring. He came back and kneeled down on one knee. "Jody Sawyer, will you marry me?"

"Yes!" Jody said, smiling uncontrollably.

"Jody, just don't-"

"Charlie! Don't worry about Cooper, ok?"

"Ok."

"Ok."

They finished packing and went to bed.

After ABC, Charlie rented a U-HAUL mini-truck and loaded almost all of their stuff into it. He was going to drive it to Chicago. Jody was going to drive their car, which had the rest of their stuff in it.

***

3 days later Charlie and Jody walked into the Cooper Neilson Dance Company holding hands. Cooper ran up to them and Charlie let go of Jody's hand. Cooper hugged Jody tightly and ignored Charlie. He started kissing her.

Charlie didn't think. He just moved. In less that 5 seconds Charlie had Cooper pinned to the ground and was sitting on top of him.

"If you ever touch her again, you will die! Do you hear me? Die! I will personally come and kick your ass until you are dead! Okay?!?"

Cooper sprang up, flinging Charlie to the floor. "What asses!" He said, and walked off.

Charlie lay on the floor when he had been flung, rubbing his shoulder. Jody looked over at him, totally surprised. She had never seen Charlie get this angry before. He was usually the sweet guy in the world.

She looked off in the direction Cooper had gone, back at Charlie, and then at her hand. She looked at the ring and smiled. She held out her hand to help Charlie up, but he pushed it away. Jody held her hand and looked at him.

Charlie got up on his own and went into the bathroom. Jody watched him leave, not knowing what to do. She saw Cooper coming back over to her and she tried to shrink but it didn't work, he still came.

"Hey Sweets! How are you?"

"Go away Cooper." Jody said firmly.

"No, why should I?"

"Because I don't love you."

"So? Can't we be friends?"

"No, Cooper, we can't. You still love me. I don't."

"Then why did you come back to my company?"

Jody looked down at her feet.

"That's what I thought." Cooper said smugly. "You do love me!"

"No, Cooper, I don't! I love Charlie!"

"Prove it!"

Jody held out her hand. Cooper looked at the ring and smirked.

"Ha! That didn't prove it last time, if you'll remember. It won't prove it this time either."

Jody glared at Cooper. "Stop it Cooper!"

"No!" Cooper dared her.

"Damn it Cooper! I don't love you! I never did."

"You did too! You may not like admitting it, but you did! And somewhere you still do! Try denying it!"

"Cooper-" Jody said quietly.

"Save it for Charlie, Jody. You're gonna have a lot of explaining to do once you realize what you are really doing here!"

Jody looked at Cooper and started to cry. She went off in the directions of the bathrooms and got a drink out of the water fountain. She was about to go into the girls' bathroom when she saw Charlie standing, hidden in the shadows of the corner.

"He's right you know." Charlie said

"What?"

"You still love him." Charlie said, and walked off into the main office.


	12. Part 1: Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 12

4 months later……

Jody woke-up and smiled. She turned her head and saw Cooper next to he, smiling at her. Jody rolled over and his her boyfriend softly. They were sharing a one-bedroom apartment because they were both sort of tight on money. Jody didn't really mind sleeping next to Cooper, as long as she wouldn't always have to sleep with him. She got dressed and looked over at Cooper. He was still lying under the covers.

Jody went over to him. "Are you going to come out of there today?" She teased him playfully.

"Yep." Cooper said, smiling at Jody with his big, happy blue eyes.

Jody's heart melted. "Come on!"

Cooper jumped out the bed wearing his boxers. He grabbed Jody and flew back to the bed. He kissed her on the cheek and smiled again. For some reason, Cooper couldn't help but smile when he was around Jody. Jody ruffled his messy dirty-blond hair and went to the kitchen.

She grabbed a granola bar and ate it, going over ballet steps in her head. Cooper was choreographing a new ballet and Jody was the lead female. Charlie was the lead male.

Jody finished eating and grabbed her small duffel bag. "Come on Coop!" She called from the front door of their apartment.

"Coming Sweets!" Cooper yelled from their room. He ran out of it and leaped down the hall. Jody locked the door and ran after him.

When they reached Cooper's Company, they both went into Cooper's office. Marindia, the assistant director, came in and caught them kissing. Jody was sitting in Cooper's lap and he was sitting on the edge of his desk. She cleared her throat and Jody jumped down, laughing. Cooper jumped down and grinned at her.

"Yes?" He said, politely.

Marindia handed him a stack of papers. "These are some résumés that we got in the last couple of weeks.

Cooper shuffled through the pile. "John Morris, Anne Peters, Joe McDollan, Sarah Jacobson, Missy Rivers, Julie Havord, Erik Jones, Matt Sanders, Justin Walters, Sam Truman, Eva Rodregez, Ellie Johnson, and Brad Anderson."

"Erik? Eva? No way!"

"Guess they don't like ABC anymore!" Cooper smiled at Jody. Marindia left and went to the rehearsal room.

Jody smiled back. "We should get to rehearsal soon" Jody noted.

Cooper nodded and they left. Jody joined the other dancers in the bar-warm-up. After the warm-up Cooper instructed everyone to get into the opening places. Jody walked casually over to Charlie and stood in front of him. He put his hands silently on her waist and lifted her up. He placed her on his shoulders and held her waist. Jody held her arms out. Charlie's hands were warm and began to relax. She had felt more or less like a nervous wreck the whole morning. She had discovered that the only things that could calm her down then were Cooper and dancing with Charlie.

Cooper whistled and announced, "From the top!"

The music began and Charlie lifted Jody off his shoulders and spun her around in his hands before putting her down. Jody danced and did a few jumps until Charlie came and grabbed her mid-jump. He flipped her in the air and then let go. Jody was supposed to land and then jump back up, but she landed and fell instead.

Cooper instantly ran over to her and kneeled down. Jody grabbed his hand and he helped her stand up. She walked over to a chair and sat down. A few minutes later they tried it again and it worked. They ran through what they had a few times, and Cooper adjusted some things and added more. Then they took a break.

Cooper stayed at his company and Jody went out to lunch. Charlie went to lunch at a local salad bar and saw Jody sitting on the other side. He looked at her and sighed. She turned around and saw him and he quickly looked back down at his half-eaten salad. She grabbed her food and stuff and brought it over to him. She sat down next to him and smiled.

"Hey!" She said cheerfully.

"Hi."

"So, how have you been? We haven't talked in a couple of weeks."

"Okay." Charlie said blankly.

"Guess what?"

"What?"

"Erik and Eva are joining here!"

"Really?"

"Yup."

"That's cool."

"Yeah, I know." Jody said, smiling.

"So……"

"So, I heard you were seeing Lara Clark. When did that start?"

"Yeah. About a month ago I guess."

"So, um… How's that going?"

"Ok."

"Does she mind that you have to dance with me in stead of her?"

"No, I don't think so. Does Cooper mind?"

"No, that's why he paired us together."

"Oh, yeah, that's cool. So, how's Coop anyway?"

"Ok, you know, the usual."

"Hum." Charlie muttered. "Well, I have to go, ok? Bye!"

"Bye Charlie!" Jody called.

Charlie got up and paid at the cash resister and then left. Jody watched him go, and then ate the rest of her salad. After she left, she ran back to the company. She knocked on Cooper's office door and when there was no answer, she walked in. Cooper was sitting on the edge of his desk, and Charlie was sitting on the small couch, looking at Cooper.

Charlie looked up at Jody and stood. "Sorry, I, uh, was just leaving."

"No! That's okay, really. You can stay. I an leave."

Charlie looked at Cooper and he nodded. Charlie sat back down nervously and Jody turned to leave.

"Jody, wait!" Cooper said, "You can stay. We were just talking about the ballet."

"Um, ok." Jody said, and sat next to Charlie.

She smiled warmly at Charlie and he half-smiled at her before turning back to Cooper. Jody looked at Cooper and waited for him to say something. When he didn't, she sunk into the couch as much as she could. She put her hands under the cushions and starred out the window behind Cooper.

Charlie shifted and waited for Cooper as well. When he still didn't say anything Charlie scooted and went up to the front of the couch.

Finally Cooper broke the awkward silence. "So, how do you too think the ballet's going?"

"Ok." Jody said instantly.

"Pretty Good." Charlie said.

"Ok then. Charlie, think about what I said, Ok?" 

Charlie looked at the floor and nodded.

"Uh, Jody, can you excuse us for a minute, sorry."

"Sure, not at all." Jody said. She got up and shut the door behind her. She looked around for something to do. All she could see was the closed door, calling her. She leaned her body against the door and listened.

"Cooper, why are you doing this?"

"Because she's my girlfriend!"

"So?"

"And she's your dancing partner!"

"So? I didn't ask for that part!"

"Yeah, so?" Cooper dared him.

Charlie sighed. "What you getting at? Is this one of those 'Pluto isn't just a dog' things?"

"Pluto is just a dog, you freak."

"Well, Yeah, but also a planet."

"Cooper thought about that for a minute. "Yeah, that works pretty well for my point."

"What Point??"

"My point that she's my girlfriend, not yours!"

"I'm not saying she is mine."

"What the hell?"

"Look, Cooper, I have a girlfriend."

"Oh yeah? Who?"

"Lara Clark."

Cooper took this all in. "Our Lara Clark, from the company?"

"Well yeah!"

"Ok then. She's still mine though."

"You know, you would think that out of all people, I would know that."

Cooper chuckled. "Nice touch there Chuck."

"Chuck?"

"Yeah. Charles is Charlie, also Chuck."

"Well, not me."

"Yeah, well at least my parents don't call her Jonnie."

"What?"

"She told me all about it, Chuck, you can't hide it now."

"Oh yeah, like she even met your parents."

"Not that that even matters!" Cooper stated angrily.

"Cooper-" Charlie began, getting mad.

"Shut up Chuck!"

Jody could see Charlie's shadow stand up.

"CHRALIE!!" Charlie shouted.

"Whoa! Chill out, geesh!"

"Well?"

"Well?"

"Look, I know she's your girlfriend. You apparently never knew she was mine, but I do know. I haven't done anything but dance with her, and its not like that was all me. You know, that was you. So just stop freaking out, ok?"

"I'm not Freaking out! I just know you still love her. But she doesn't love you. That's why you broke up with her. You moron!"

Charlie felt like punching Cooper. "Yeah, well, she's all yours now." Charlie said.

He opened the door and Jody sprang back. He looked at her and got this embarrassed/ashamed look on his face.

Jody blocked his path, forcing him to go back in to Cooper's office. She looked at both of them and blinked.

"Look, you two. You don't have to fight over me, ok? If you do, I'll never go out with either of you ever again. Ok?"

Charlie looked down at the floor. "Sure."

Cooper rolled his eyes at Charlie and smiled at Jody. She didn't smile back and he quickly dropped it. "Yeah, ok."

Jody looked at Charlie and waited for him to look up at her. He didn't. He just walked out of the room, brushing his arm against Jody's. Jody watched him leave and turned back to Cooper. She glared at him angrily.

"You don't have to do that you know! I'm not with him! I'm with you! Ok? So, just stop!"

Cooper shifted his eyes. "Sure."

Jody looked at him and sighed.

She walked out of the office and went to find Charlie. He was sitting in a dark corner of a small rehearsal room. The lights were off and he was all scrunched up in a ball.

"Charlie?" Jody asked.

"What?"

"I'm sorry about Cooper."

"It's okay."

Jody sat down next to him. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Jody put her hands on his head and turned it so he was looking at her. "Charlie, I, I, Oh my God!" She exclaimed and let go of his face. She stood up and stomped her foot several times.

Charlie stood up and out his hand on Jody's shoulder. "What?"

Jody pulled back. "Nothing." She said, and ran out of the room. She grabbed her duffel bag and ran out of the company. She hailed a cab and went to her apartment.

She changed into jeans and a spaghetti strap and plopped down on the couch to think. After an hour she grabbed her purse and locked the door. She ran out. She got another cab and went to another apartment building.

She ran up to the 4th floor and found apartment 46. She looked at the door and sighed. She knocked gently and waited.

Charlie opened the door. "Jody? What are you doing here?" He asked.

Jody was about to answer when she heard a faint voice come from inside the apartment. "Charlie? Who's there Honey?"

Charlie stepped outside and shut the door. "What are you doing here?"

Jody looked at him. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you had company I'm sorry."

"It's just Lara. Why'd you come?"

"_Just_ Lara?"

"You know what I mean. Just, what are you doing here?"

"Charlie!" Lara called. She opened the door. "Oh, hey Jo! What's up?"

"Uh, nothing."

Charlie turned around. "Uh, Lara, can you excuse us for a minute?"

"Um, ok." Lara said. She turned and went back inside, shutting he door.

Charlie put his hand on Jody's shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Charlie? I don't like Cooper."

"You don't _like_ him? What does that mean?"

"I mean, I don't love him."

Charlie looked into her eyes. "What? What are you saying? That you love-"

"Yes."


	13. Part 1: Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Charlie looked at Jody in disbelief. "What?"

"I love you."

"No. No you don't. You love Cooper. I can tell."

"How can you tell?"

"Your body language. Your eyes. Your voice. Your everything."

"My everything is lying. I love you. That's what I realized this morning when I got all freaked out."

Charlie looked at her. She had hurt him too many times for this. He had taken her back all the other times, but he couldn't this time. He couldn't take it any more. "Ok."

Jody looked at him confused. "Ok? And?"

"And, I have to get back to my girlfriend." Charlie said. He went back inside and shut the door.

Jody stood there for a minute before going back to her apartment. Cooper was already there and she ran up to him. She kissed him and wouldn't let him pull away. After a few minutes or so, she finally pulled back.

"I love you." She tried to convince herself it was true.

Cooper smiled. "I love you too."

Jody looked into his eyes and knew it was true. He loved her. She smiled and kissed him again. He got up and ran into their room. He returned a minute later, holding a long, thin jewelry box. He opened it and pulled out a gold necklace. It had small purple and blue diamond charms all around it.

"Oh my God, Cooper! How, what, how can you afford this? We can barely afford to live here!"

Cooper smiled. "It's okay, really, trust me." He unlatched it and put it around Jody's neck. She looked beautiful.

Jody put her hand up to touch it. It was warm where Cooper had been holding it. She hugged him and he kissed her softly.

"I love you." Cooper said.

"I love you too."

A few days later Cooper was showing Jody some new steps for the ballet during rehearsal. Charlie was watching carefully, taking in the steps.

Suddenly Cooper said he had a very important announcement. He ran over to his bag and pulled out a small ring box. He walked back over to Jody. He got down on one knee and flipped open the box. A silver ring was resting inside in a little slot. It had a little heart engraved into it. Jody gasped.

"Jodianne Renee Sawyer, I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"

Jody saw Charlie storm out of the room out of the corner of her eye. She looked at the beautiful ring and then at Cooper. He was looking at her with his big, blue, happy eyes. She had never seen him so happy before. She smiled at him.

"Yes! Of course I will marry you!" Jody said.

Cooper slipped the ring onto her finger and hugged her. Everyone began cheering and Cooper picked her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he spun her around, happily. Jody laughed and when he put her down, she kissed him.

Later that night Cooper and Jody were sitting on their small couch, wrapped in each other's limbs.

"I love you, Jodianne Renee Sawyer." Cooper said as he ran his hands down her back and kissed her soft hair.

"I love you, Cooper Andrew Neilson." Jody said quietly as she kissed his forehead.

There was a knock on the door and Jody laughed as she untangled herself. She opened the door. When she saw who it was she stepped out into the hallway and and shut the door.

"Charlie, was are you doing here?"

"I, uh, what did you say?"

"I said, what are you doing here?"

"No, I mean to Cooper."

"Oh! I said yes." Jody squeaked as she held out her hand our proudly.

Charlie touched her hand tenderly before letting it drop back to her side. "But I thought you said that-"

"I know. I did. But you, Lara, I guess I just changed my mind or something. Look, Charlie, just forget I said anything ok?"

"But Jody-"

"Charlie, no. Just forget I ever said anything to you. And please, don't tell Cooper, ok?" Jody said. She went back inside and shut the door.

She sat down on the couch and wrapped herself in Cooper.

"Who was that?" He asked.

"A sales-man." Jody said cooly as placed her hand on his chest.

"Oh."

Jody kissed him and *scene fades out-hehe*

***** 8 months later**

Jody warmed up behind Charlie. He hadn't told Cooper anything and Jody was grateful. He hadn't said much of anything lately, actually. He had dumped Lara a while back and had gone through 7 or 8 girlfriends since. Jody was watching him slowly turn into what Cooper had been after Kathleen. This hurt her more than she could imagine, but she couldn't stop it.

After they ran through the new ballet, twice, Cooper said that the rehearsal would end early that day. Everyone left except Jody. Cooper was taking her out for an anniversary lunch. They had decided to be together at least a year before the wedding.

He took her out to a fancy Chinese restaurant that Jody loved. She never went there because it was expensive, so Cooper surprised her. After lunch- which lasted 2 hours- was over they went home.

Cooper decided that since they were going to get married in 3 months that Jody and his parents should meet soon. Jody agreed and Cooper called his parents.

"Hello?"

"Hi Mom!"

"Donald?"

"Uh, no, Mom. It's your other son, Cooper."

"Oh hi Honey! How are you?"

"Ok. How are you."

"Good, good, fine. So, are you still with Leslie?"

"Um, no Mom. Actually, that's why I'm calling. I wanted you to meet Jody." Cooper said. He couldn't believe that he hadn't told her about the wedding earlier. He had wanted to arrange all the wedding details with Jody, and no one else. He knew if he had told his mom, she would have taken over.

"Jody?"

"Uh, yes mom. She's my, um, girlfriend."

"Ok, Honey. When can we meet?"

"Any time. When's good for you?"

"Is this weekend ok?"

"Well, I'm busy Sunday night, but other than that, it's fine."

"Ok, Cooper. Can we come Friday night?"

"Well, that's usually my night with Jody, but ok."

"Ok, I'll see you in two days, ok?"

"Ok Mom, bye."

"Bye, love you."

"Bye." Cooper said and hung up. He turned to Jody.

"You didn't tell her we were engaged!"

"Yeah, I know. See, I wanna do this with you. I wanna make all the plans and stuff with you. If she knew now, she'd go insane and do it all herself."

Jody kissed him. "How sweet! So, when are they coming?"

"Friday."

"Night?"

"Yep."

"Ok." Jody said, and she kissed him again.

***** Friday Night- 7 PM *****

Cooper sat on the couch nervously. His mom had always been objective of his girlfriends. The only one she had liked before was Kathleen. Jody noticed and kissed him.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

The doorbell rang and Cooper jumped up. He opened the door and his parents were standing there.

"Hi Mom, Dad." He said as he hugged them.


	14. Part 1: Chapter 14

Chapter 14 ****

Chapter 14

Jody sat on the couch next to Cooper, hiding her hand. Cooper had his arm around her and Mrs. Neilson seemed to watching his hand carefully. She and Mr. Neilson were sitting on the kitchen table chairs that Cooper had put out on the rug.

Jody looked at Mrs. Neilson. She looked like an old-fashioned schoolteacher. She had a long, thin face with high cheekbones and tight, thin lips. She didn't look very friendly, but her voice was cheerful.

Mr. Neilson had the same bright eyes as Cooper and had gray, short, fluffy hair. He looked a lot like Cooper, only Cooper was thinner and taller. He had a smile on his face, but said nothing.

"So, Jody, how are you?"

"Ok. And you, Mrs. Neilson?"

"Oh, call me Nancy, please. And I'm fine, thank you."

"How old are you, Jody?"

"23."

"Ah, wonderful. And how long have you two been together?"

Jody realized that Cooper hadn't told his parents about her at all. Not about their baby, the wedding, Charlie, or anything.

"A year ago, Wednesday." Cooper said, "The day I called."

Nancy nodded. "So, Jody, what do you do?"

"I'm a principle at Cooper's company."

"Oh. And where do you live?"

Jody shifted and looked at Cooper. He nodded and she turned back to Nancy. "Here."

Mr. Neilson yawned. "Oh, excuse me!"

Nancy nodded and turned her head stiffly back to Jody and Cooper. "Here? Here with Cooper?" She asked, looking around the apartment.

"Yes." Jody said, uneasily.

"Oh, ok, I see. Then I guess we'd better get a hotel room if all your rooms are taken." Nancy said, smiling for the first time. She had perfectly straight teeth that were whiter than snow.

Jody was about to explain the rooming situation but before she could, Cooper said, "Yeah, that sounds good." 

Cooper kissed Jody on the cheek and then turned back to his parents. Nancy raised her eyebrows at this, but said nothing. They talked for another hour or so. Mr. Neilson was silent except for a few occasional yawns and an explanation that he had stayed up all night working on his train set.

Nancy said that they should leave soon to get a room before they were all gone. But before they left, she asked to speak to Cooper alone in his room. Cooper kissed Jody softly and went into his room. He made sure the closet was shut so his mom wouldn't see Jody's clothes,

Jody sat on the couch and smiled at Mr. Neilson. He smiled back, yawned, and got up. He moved their bags over to the door and waited.

"How long are you staying?" Jody asked.

"Oh, probably only until Monday or Tuesday."

Jody nodded and looked at the closed door to her room.

Inside of it, Nancy was sitting on the bed, looking up at Cooper.

"She seems nice." Nancy noted.

Cooper smiled. "She is Mom, she's wonderful!"

"She's a little young though, don't you think?"

"No, not really, It's not that much of a difference."

"4 years is a big difference. She's only 23. You're 27!"

"So? What should that matter? If I love her."

"Do you?"

"What?"

"Do you love her?"

"Of course."

Nancy smiled. "So, are you going to marry her?"

Cooper tried not to smile. "I guess."

"Oh! That's nice. Well, we have to go."

"Of course." Cooper said as he opened the door and walked out.

Nancy followed and went over to the door. She hugged Cooper good-bye and waved at Jody before leaving, making Mr. Neilson carry all 3 bags. Jody couldn't believe how much stuff they had packed for just 4 days.

Cooper sat down on the couch and kissed Jody.

"What did she say?" Jody asked.

"She says you're nice."

Jody smiled. "And?"

"She thinks I'm too old and you're too young."

"What?"

"She thinks 4 years is like the biggest difference in the world. I mean, I was in high school and you were in jr. high, but what should that do to us?"

"So what do you say?"

"I said that shouldn't matter since I loved you."

Jody giggled. "And?"

"And she wanted to know if I was going to marry you."

Jody laughed, "What did you say?"

"Maybe." Cooper said, smiling.

Jody laughed again and kissed her fiancée.

*** 3 Months Later ***

"I do." Cooper said, smiling at Jody.

Jody smiled back as the minister turned to her. He repeated the question. " Do you, Jody, take Cooper………………… Husband?"

Charlie sat in the 3 row, looking at Jody. She looked more beautiful in her dress than he had ever seen her before. Jamie Andrews was sitting next to him, his current girlfriend. He didn't really like her though. She had been his friend for a while, so Charlie just up and asked her out one day.

He knew he'd have to break up with her soon, before she thought it was serious. Charlie hadn't really liked anyone he'd gone out with the past year except for Lara. But Lara had fallen in love with someone else, so that was the end of that. He still loved Jody, and when he had one chance to take her back, when she came to his door, he blew it away. He did want her back, but he also knew she'd hurt him again.

She always told him not to worry about Cooper, that she loved him- Charlie. But it was always a lie. Jody may have loved him at one point, but not anymore. He looked over at Jamie and she smiled warmly at him. Charlie made himself smile, but it didn't work and Jamie gave him a strange look. He looked up at Jody and smiled.

Jody took a deep breath and looked into Cooper's bright eyes. They reminded her of a cute little puppy's eyes. She thought his eyes were his best features, She loved them. She realized how tacky her thoughts sounded and shook out of it. She looked down at her hands, holding Cooper's. She looked up at Cooper's happy face and smiled. She took a deep breath.


	15. Part 1: Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15 ****

CHAPTER 15

Jody looked into Charlie's eyes.

"What are you doing?" He asked as he hugged her.

"I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I thought I, I mean, I do. I love him. But I just couldn't do it. I don't know why. I wanted to more than anything in the whole world. I just-" Jody stopped and took a deep breath. She began to cry and Charlie hugged her tighter.

Charlie had watched Jody stand up at the front of the church, holding Cooper's hands. They looked so much in love, but when I came Jody's turn to say the vowels, she stuttered. She began to say it, but then she turned her head and looked at everyone sitting in the pews. Charlie could see al the doubt in her eyes. Then, she just ran.

Jody had felt like Julia Roberts in "Runaway Bride", but she didn't care. She couldn't tell if anyone was running after her, so she just kept running. After about 10 minutes she tripped over the front of her long, white dress. She was in the middle of a field, but she had no idea where. She couldn't see anyone around, so she just sat there, trying to catch her breath.

After a minute or so, she could se someone running over to her. She couldn't see who it was. The person slowed down once they saw she was ok. As they neared, Jody saw who it was. Charlie. Good ol' Charlie Brown. Or, actually Sims, but who cares. He was slowly approaching her. He sat down next to her.

After Charlie let go, he looked into Jody's eyes. "What are you doing?" He asked again.

Jody buried her head into Charlie's chest and began to sob. Charlie stroked her silky hair and kissed the top of her head. Jody pulled back and whipped her eyes. She looked into Charlie's eyes and took a deep breath. She couldn't go back to Cooper, but she couldn't go back to Charlie now either.

"Where's Cooper?"

"He got lost trying to catch up to you. You run pretty fast, did you know that? Were you like on the track team or something?"

Jody looked at Charlie and smiled. "No. So, he came after me and got lost? Then how did you find me?"

"You left and I followed you, then Cooper. He was too behind to find you, but I could pretty much see where you were going."

Jody nodded and pulled out of Charlie's warm embrace. "Look, Charlie. I know you're…… you and all, but I can't be with you. Not right now anyway. Maybe, some time, in a long time, we can get together, but not now."

Charlie sighed and nodded. "But, can I at least be here as a friend for you? Now?"

Jody bit her lip. "I dunno. I mean, I guess. Just don't be all…… um……"

"Me?" Charlie offered.

Jody smiled. "Yeah."

Charlie nodded. "I can do that."

Jody raised her eyebrows. "Can you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I know how you still love me and everything."

Charlie stood up. "What? What are you talking about? Do you see me trying to get you back? I said I wanted to be your friend! How in hell does that mean I love you?"

Jody stood up. "Charlie! Stop lying to yourself!"

Charlie glared at Jody. He kissed her quickly and softly before turning and running off.

Jody watched him leave and then sat down. She waited for almost 3 hours before someone found her. By then she had stopped crying and was half-asleep.

Cooper stood in front of her and she looked up at him. He looked down at her. His happy eyes from earlier were gone and had been replaced by the saddest eyes she had ever seen. He sat down and kissed her softly.

"What happened?" He asked.

Jody thought about it for a minute. She thought of Cooper and Charlie and even Adam. She looked into Cooper's sad eyes. "I don't know. But I know I've never regretted anything more than this. I love you. I'm sorry."

Cooper felt a warm tear roll down his face. He couldn't remember the last time he had cried. He hadn't even cried when he and Kathleen had broken up. Jody lifted her hand and whipped it away gracefully.

"Then why?"

"I don't know. But I know I love you. I know I still want to marry you."

"Why?"

"Cooper! Because I love you!"

"I love you too!"

"So now what?" Jody asked.

"Vegas wedding?" Cooper offered.

Jody blinked. "Vegas wedding?" She said, almost in disgust.

"Or not. We could have a private wedding."

"Private wedding." Jody thought out loud. "Hey! Is anyone still at the church?"

"I'm not sure."

"You wanna go check?" Jody asked, smiling.

"Sure." Cooper said. He stood up and held out his hand. Jody took it and stood up. They ran back to the church.

Only Jody's parents, Cooper's parents, Charlie, and the minister were there. They were sitting on the steps leading into the church. When they saw Jody and Cooper coming, they all stood up. Cooper realized he was practically still crying. He swiftly ran his hand over his face and grabbed Jody's hand. They walked slowly over to everyone.

"What happened?" Mrs. Sawyer asked.

"Can we still get married?" Cooper asked the minister.

He scrunched up his face and shrugged. "Uh, sure."

"Great." Cooper said. He ran past everyone and into the church, Jody following him.

Everyone else looked at each other and shrugged and smiled. They went inside and sat down in the front row. Charlie sunk into the seat and tried to become invisible.

The service was pretty quick.

"I do." Cooper said.

Jody smiled at Cooper- again- as the minister turned to her- again. He asked the question- again- and waited.

Jody smiled. "I do."

"……………… You may kiss the bride." The minister said.

Cooper smiled and leaned down slightly to kiss Jody. She kissed back and then pulled back. They turned and smiled at everyone. They all hugged and then walked to the back of the church.

They went to Jody's parents' house to celebrate. Charlie tagged behind, suddenly depressed. Jody ignored his unusual behavior and spent the whole time wrapped in Cooper's arms.

Her parents played some music and they danced. Jody danced one song each with her dad, Cooper's dad, and Charlie. Cooper also danced one song with Jody's mom and his mom. He hated to have anyone but Jody wrapped in his arms, but he survived-haha.

Jody and Cooper left for Paris later that night and returned a week later.

****

~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~

If you think that this story could have more, say so, or e-mail me! Because I can add more! I can make Jody and Charlie get together! Or I could make……! Oh! Never mind! I have an idea! Part 2 up soon! I have lots of ideas! Come back!


	16. Part 2: Chapter 16

Chapter 16 ****

Chapter 16

Jody walked into her apartment. She hung up her coat and purse. She slipped off her shoes and went to put them in her room. Cooper was lying under the covers, and he was asleep. Jody smiled and put her shoes quietly into the closet. She looked one last time at her husband and smiled again. She was about to leave the room when she saw the lump next to Cooper.

Jody cautiously walked up to the bed and pulled down the covers a few inches. There was a pretty girl with brown hair lying there. She looked not even 20 yet.

"COOPER!!!" Jody yelled.

Cooper sat up and blinked. She looked at Jody and smiled warmly. "Hey Sweets, how are you?" He asked.

"COOPER!!!" Jody shouted again.

The young girl woke up and looked at Jody. "Who are you?"

"I'm his wife!!" Jody exclaimed.

"Ew!" The girl jumped out of the bed and put on her coat. "Ew! Ew! Ew!" She yelled all the way down the hall to the staircase.

Jody glared at Cooper. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Did you forget that you had a wife? Did you forget you were in love?"

Cooper yawned. "I'm sorry Jody, I really do love you."

Jody flailed her arms around. "And this is how you show it??"

Cooper stood up, wearing only boxers. "I really do love you Jody! I wouldn't have married you if I didn't love you. But don't you ever just missing being allowed to just like… other people?"

"NO!" Jody screamed.

Cooper found a shirt and stuffed it over his head. Jody found a duffel bag and started stuffing clothes into it. She went to the front door and Cooper chased after her. He took her in his arms and kissed her forehead.

"I love you!"

"I'll be back in a week." Jody said coldly as she tore out of Cooper's grip. She open the door and left.

She couldn't believe Cooper. How could he do this to her? She loved more than she had ever loved Charlie. He hadn't changed at all since she first met him at ABA. He was still this gorgeous player who broke girls hearts.

Charlie… would never have done this. He loved Jody so much. But Jody didn't love him back before, and she had hurt him too much. He would never take her back. Jody wasn't even sure if she wanted to be taken back yet. But she didn't want to think. She just wanted to do.

She got into her car and drove 10 minutes until she reached another apartment building. She hauled her duffel bad up to the 3rd floor and over to apartment 36. She plopped the bag down and knocked.

Charlie opened the door and looked at Jody.


	17. Part 2: Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17 ****

CHAPTER 17

**"Hey Jody, what's wrong?" Charlie asked.**

Jody threw herself at him, sobbing. Charlie wrapped her in a tight hug and he took in the faint smell of strawberries from her soft hair. Jody stepped back several minutes later and whipped her eyes.

"What happened?" Charlie asked softly.

Jody shook her head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come here." Jody started to pick up her bag but Charlie grabbed it up first.

"It's fine, I don't mind."

Jody looked past him. "No girlfriend?"

"No, not lately."

Jody nodded and sniffed. "Oh."

"You wanna talk about it inside?" Charlie asked, placing Jody's bag on the rug behind him.

Jody nodded slightly. "Sure."

Charlie let her in and shut the door. Sitting next to her on the couch he asked, "What happened?"

"Cooper," Jody started slowly as Charlie's eyes got cold and hard. "He really hasn't changed at all. I was just so in love, I guess I had myself convinced he had changed… for me. He kept saying how much he loved me…" Jody sighed. "I dunno. Maybe he did… maybe not… do you think I'm an idiot for getting involved with him?" Jody asked, at first not realizing what she was saying.

Charlie smiled and shook his head. "No, I think he's an idiot for not treating you well. You deserve someone who loves you… and isn't afraid to. Someone-"

"Like you…" Jody finished for him.

Charlie shrugged. "I wasn't going to say that…" He put his hand on her arm.

Jody shifted and Charlie drew his hand back. "Charlie… please… I just caught my husband sleeping with someone else…" Jody began to cry again.

Charlie wrapped her in another hug. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. You don't deserve this kind of pain."

Jody rested her head on Charlie's shoulder. "Sure I do. This is what I get for falling deeply in love… with Cooper Neilson… famous for doing this to people…" Jody sniffed again.

Charlie held Jody in front of him and looked into her eyes. "No. This is not your fault. You understand? This is never your fault. He just doesn't see a good thing right under his nose when he has it. He just puts on this fake charm every time he sees… anything female."

"Any_thing_? And… he really does… did… ugh! I don't know! But he loved… loves… me. He really did. And I love him. How do you get over a love like that?"

"You don't…" Charlie said slowly. "It's always there. You can't ever get rid of it. The only thing you can do is not let myself think about you…" Charlie shook his head and looked away. "I mean… just… you can't let yourself dwell on things that will never be." Charlie blushed.

Jody turned to face Charlie. "I'm sorry I hurt you Charlie."

Charlie nodded and sighed. "I know, I know… It's just… can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Remember that one light when you came over and you said you still loved me?"

"Yeah, sorta."

"And then you said you changed your mind… and married Cooper. Was that true?"

"Charlie, I don't know. Why are you asking me all this NOW? My marriage… I don't wanna get a divorce…"

"I'm sorry. I just… I don't know what to do to help. I just can't stand to see you this unhappy. It's just wrong."

Jody looked into Charlie's eyes and saw what she had been so afraid of. Her whole marriage was a lie… on both their parts. Cooper was afraid to love her, so he went after other women. Jody loved Cooper, she really did, but pretending his lips were as soft as Charlie's… and that his arms were as warm and inviting… and comforting as Charlie's… was a lie. She still loved Charlie, but had blocked it out of her mind. "You know what?" Jody stood up and grabbed her bag. "I can't stay here. I'm gonna go… to Eva's or something. I need to think." And with that, she left, leaving Charlie alone, again.


	18. Part 2: Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18 ****

CHAPTER 18

Charlie watched Jody leave, not sure what to do next. His phone rang, making the decision.

"Hello?" Charlie groaned into the phone.

"Hello Charlie." The voice sighed painfully. "This is Cooper… is Jody there?"

Charlie scowled. "No, she just left."

"So she was there?? Figures." Cooper said sadly. "Where did she go?"

"Didn't say."

"Ok… bye then."

"Bye." Charlie mumbled.

Charlie still loved Jody, he always had. After all the pain and heartbreak she had caused him, he still loved her. And in one small way, he was even sort of happy with what had happened with Cooper. At least now she knew how it felt to be cheated on like that. But, it killed Charlie to see Jody like that too. So he wasn't really all that happy.

Jody got in her car and drove away. She didn't know what to do, she was so confused. She knocked on Eva's apartment door several minutes later.

Eva opened the door. "Hey girl… why have you been crying?"

"Cooper…he was… cheating on me… and stuff." Jody sighed.

"And your surprised?" Eva asked, regretting it a moment later. "I'm sorry. This is horrible, I'm really sorry."

"Yeah… and I just came from Charlie's. I don't even wanna go into that. This is just so messed up! Because… I still love Charlie."

"WHAT????" Eva exploded.

"I've been trying to ignore this feeling for like… what? The past year and a half now… but I just… I looked into his eyes today. I've been phasing myself out enough, wrapped in Charlie mentally, I didn't realize how much wrapping myself in Cooper, actually, was a lie. Ugh. Eva, HELP!!?"

"What am I supposed to do??"

"I dunno… I have to think."

"You can go lay in my room." Eva offered.

Jody thanked her best friend (who by the way, yes, did join Cooper's company several months ago along with Erik) and went into her room. Eva watched her shut the door, thinking about what had just happened.

About an hour later Jody was still thinking in Eva's room and Eva was reading a magazine out in her small living room thing. There was a knock on the door and Eva pushed herself up off the couch, thinking of any other of her friends that could possibly beat Jody's problems. Cooper was standing outside her apartment holding a large bouquet of roses, a box of chocolates, and a videotape.

"What do you want Cooper?" Eva asked coldly.

"Is Jody here?"

"Yea, she's in my room. But I think you should leave before I kick your ass."

"Chill out, will ya!? I'm here to apologize… she's in that room?" Cooper pointed to a shut door inside the apartment.

Eva nodded and Cooper pushed his way past her and into her room. He shut the door and turned to face Jody, who was sitting on the bed.

"Go away." Jody snapped after a minute.

Cooper got down on both his knees. "Have you ever seen me do this before?" He asked, referring to his position.

Jody shook her head.

"Okay. Please, I'm begging you, please. Take me back. I can't live without you. I love you. Yes, I made a mistake, a really horrible one, and I'm truly sorry. I realize… I was just afraid of getting hurt again, but now I realize… you are worth the risk. Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, I love you. Please?" Cooper pleaded.

Jody's emotionless expression stayed the same as she said nothing.

Cooper sighed deeply and stood up, placing the bouquet, candy, and tape next to her. He looked at her one last time with sad eyes, and left Eva's small apartment.

Jody looked at the things at her side. She took the flowers and smelled them quickly before rushing over to the open window and throwing them out.

Cooper walked out to his car and saw something fall from the middle window on the 2nd floor. He walked over to the mess and picked up one of the roses. He looked up and saw Jody staring at his from the window. He blew her a small kiss and ran hurriedly back to his car.

Jody watched him drive away, clutching the rose. She shrugged and sat back down on the bed. What did she care if she was heart-broken… but she did care. Even if most of her love for Cooper had been based off Charlie… she really did love him.

She opened the box of chocolate and frowned. Getting fat wasn't going to get her or Cooper anywhere, so she shut it and slipped it under the bed. She inspected the tape, but there was no label or anything.

Eva knocked on the door to her room and pushed it open.

"You okay? What did he say?" Eva asked.

Jody made a face and shrugged. "He said he was sorry, and that he loved me. That he was afraid of getting hurt so he made bad choices, but that now he'd gotten over it. He kept on saying 'please'. And he gave me a bunch or roses. I chucked them out the window…" Jody pulled out the box of chocolate, "And he gave me these. And then this tape… I can't figure out what it is."

Eva took the tape and inspected it, finding nothing. "Oh… well… you wanna go watch it out on my tv?"

Jody shrugged and stood up. "Why not?"

They sat down on the couch after Eva inserted to tape in her vcr. Eva pushed play on the remote and lounged across the couch, waiting to see what was on it.

Cooper appeared on the tv, and Jody could tell he was at one of the rehearsal rooms at his company.

"Jody? I hope you're watching this. I want you to know… I've been looking all over for you… I went to Erik's and everywhere… even Charlie's. But I want you to know… I'm really sorry. I just made the worst mistake of my life. The only other thing I can do worse than this is… give you up without a fight… and that's still not as bad. I love you Jody… and I just sorta made this dance up on the spot. I hope it's not to bad… here goes." Cooper walked over to a cd player and pressed play. He walked to the middle of the room and "You look Beautiful Tonight" by Eric Clapton started playing in the background.

Jody grabbed up the remote and pressed stop. "I don't wanna watch this… now." She said, starting to cry again.

Eva nodded and handed her the tape. "You wanna stay here for a while?"

Jody shook her head. "No… I have… I wanna… get a hotel room or something. Ok?"

"Sure…"

"I think… I'm just… gonna go now." Jody snatched her bag up and opened the door.

"Ok, bye Jody!" Eva called as she left. "Ha! Who knew Cooper was such a romantic… ass hole?" Eva smiled.

Jody drove around, tears streaming down her face, trying to find a hotel. Never needing to stay in one, she hadn't paid much attention to where they were along the roads. She finally found one and went inside. Getting herself together enough to get a room for a few days, she ran up to the 3rd floor and pulled out the card key.

She leaned against the door, causing it to open. She stumbled inside and flopped down onto the bed. "What am I going to do?" She cried out to the room.

Jody looked around the room, desperately wanting to do something. There was a small bathroom with a shower and everything. There was one queen-sized bed, with a tiny desk with a drawer next to it. There was a small table and 2 chairs on opposite sides. There was along dresser with several drawers, and a bunch of papers, and a TV sitting on top of it. Jody looked at the tv and n saw the vcr. She didn't want to watch the tape, but there didn't seem to be much else to do.

She pushed in the tape and the play button.

Cooper's introduction came on and then the song started playing. Cooper knew how much Jody loved that song… she began to cry as Cooper danced. By the end of the song, Jody was sobbing uncontrollably and didn't think she'd ever stop. Cooper stuck his face in the camera again.

"Jody?? I love you (sniff sniff- Cooper can't believes he's crying). I've always loved you. I hope… someday… you can forgive me for what I've done to you. Until then… I love you… and good-bye." He walked back over to the cd player and put in another cd. After pushing play he dances playfully for the camera to "The Sweetest Thing" by U2.

Jody knew that the song had been written as an apology, and she began to cry more. Cooper rushed up to the camera, tears starting to fall down his face. Fumbling with the camera, he knocked it over, which finally turned it off.

Jody lay down on the bed and cried herself to sleep. She dreamt about Cooper and Charlie, fighting over her. 

~*~~*~~*~

Charlie lunged at Cooper, who pulled out a knife. After screaming at them, she used all her force to pull the knife out of Cooper's tight grip. A look of horror on hid face, Charlie pushed Cooper off him and tackled him to the ground. Jody dropped the knife in surprise and Cooper grabbed it up with his free hand. Struggling to breathe as Charlie strangled him, he stabbed Charlie. A few seconds later Charlie fell limp onto the ground.

Jody rushed over, sobbing. She lay her head on Charlie's bloody chest and prayed to hear his heart beating. No such luck. Jody stood up in anger and jumped on Cooper. Screaming at him, she started to bounce up and down, causing him to eventually crumble weakly to the ground. Cooper lay there as Jody ran over to Charlie. Cooped hugged her and said that now they could finally be together, forever. Jody screamed no, but Cooper couldn't hear her. She scrambled around, and found the bloody knife. Stabbing herself, she fell into Charlie's open arm. Cooper watched in horror, realizing he had lost her forever. But at least, she'd be happy, with Charlie, for eternity.

~*~~*~~*~

Jody woke up, crying and sweating. She knew what the dream meant, but didn't want to face the truth. The truth was she had bad feet, not enough turnout, a loving husband, an ex-boyfriend who she totally did not love. Those were the things Jody had convinced herself were true… but she couldn't hide the real truth anymore. But she didn't know what to do. She pulled out her cell phone and pressed speed dial #3.

"Hello?"

"EVA!!! HELP ME!"

"What's wrong?"

"I am in love with Charlie. I don't think… I can stand to be away from him any longer."

"So… you're going back to Charlie?"

"I dunno! I don't wanna get a divorce…"

"You're going back to Cooper?"

"No… I dunno! I'm gonna… go… call Charlie. Ok?"

"Sure, bye JoJo."

"See ya." Jody hung up and looked around her room, hopelessly trying to avoid her next call. Eventually she gave in and pressed speed dial 1.

"Hello?"

"Hey Charlie… It's me."

"Jody? Uh, hey, what's up?"

"Can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

"And you promise you won't get freaked out?" Jody was wasting time.

"Yeah… sure. As long as you're not gonna tell me you're really dead right now or something."

Jody smiled. "No, I'm not dead… at least not since a few minutes ago…" Jody recalled her dream. "Um, are you ready?"

"Yes." Charlie said, wondering if he should sit down, because Jody sounded really off.

"I am really… I love you."


	19. Part 2: Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19 ****

CHAPTER 19

"What?" Charlie asked.

"I love you."

"Why do you always tell me this? Every time you say that… you run off to Cooper… so just stop, ok?" Charlie hung up and threw the phone across the room. He just wasn't up for another Jody adventure.

Jody looked at her phone and dialed again.

"What now Jody?" Charlie asked, slightly annoyed.

"Charlie, please don't hang up. I have to explain this to someone… and I can't to anyone else but you. So, please, can I?"

Charlie sighed. "Whatever."

"Thank you so much! Ok… wow… I don't know were to start. Um… I love you. And everyone had me so convinced that I was still so in love with Cooper, I just sorta went with it. I had then convinced myself I was in love with Cooper more than I was ever in love with you. But…it wasn't true. And I wouldn't let myself believe anything other than I was in love with Cooper. But… I would always pretend that… he was… you. His arms were yours and his lips… were yours. I was… so in love with you I would just close my eyes and… there you'd be, kissing me. Then Cooper would kiss me… and I'd just be like 'oh, it's Charlie'. But it never was. And finding Cooper lying next to someone else in bed… and then I had this dream. You and Cooper were fighting over me and… he killed you. So then I killed myself so I could be with you forever. I knew then that I really had been lying to myself this past… year and a half. Charlie, I love you."

Charlie didn't know what to say. "Ok, but I can't just take you back just like that! You… you've left me for Cooper like 3 times now!"

"I know!" Jody stared to cry. "But I can't live another minute without you! I love you."

Smiling, Charlie realized Jody was finally telling the truth. "I love you too." He said slowly.

Jody smiled through her tears. "I… can… I have to go find Cooper, ok? I'll call you later?" Jody said, reluctant to end their conversation.

"Ok, bye, I love you."

"I love you too, bye." Jody quickly hung up and grabbed her coat.

Rushing out to find Cooper, she thought of how happy she and Charlie would finally be together. She found him back at their apartment, siting on the couch. He had his head resting in his hands and his fingers were planted firmly on his head, resting in his soft hair.

"Cooper?" Jody asked, standing in front of the closed apartment door.

Cooper spun around and leapt up to see her. He ran over to her and scooped her in his arms. Kissing her, he felt his heart leap. Jody pushed him off and jumped out of his arms. Glaring at him, she reminded herself of Charlie.

"What?" Cooper asked.

Jody shook her head. "Let's sit down." She walked calmly over to the couch and sat down.

Cooper sighed and frowned, knowing this wouldn't be good, and sat down next to his wife. "What's wrong?"

Biting her lip, Jody planed out what she going to say. "I… can't do this anymore. It's just to hard and no one… it's just wrong."

"What's wrong? What are you talking about? If you're talking about earlier… I said I was sorry. And I meant it. I love you so much, if you leave, I don't know what I'll do with myself. I can't… I can't live without you Jody, I love you."

Jody nodded. "I know. I know all this, but, the thing is… it's not you. It's me. See, I had myself in love with you and married to you and so happy with you. But in my head… it wasn't you I was with."

"What are saying?" Cooper asked nervously.

"I can't… be with you… anymore, because… it'd just be wrong."

Cooper itched his head and turned to Jody. "W-what? Why? I don't get this. I thought… this was about what I did."

Jody shook her head and started to cry. "No… this is about what I did to myself. I was lying to myself and to you and to everyone. See, I love you… more like as a friend more than anything." Jody started to hit her knee, finding the right words. "So, it, we, we can't be together like this. And I know that… I don't know anything actually. All I know is who I love, and it's not you…"

Cooper shook his head and looked at Jody with hurting eyes. "It's Charlie isn't it??"

Jody nodded and whipped her eyes, trying to stop the tears. "I'm sorry… I never wanted to hurt you like this…"

Cooper nodded and stood up, forcing himself not to scream or cry or show any signs of any kind of emotion at all. "Why don't you go now."

Jody stood up and wrapped her arms around Cooper. Resting her head on his shoulder, she sighed. "Good-bye Cooper." She tore away and ran out of her home.


End file.
